Insects...

[Dusty]

We need an Insects thread to capture all the various insects in one easy location. I'll start it off with a few.

I seem to have caught the focus on his front leg. He was on my Bar B Que pit under the deck, so the light was a bit low for the f22 crowd.

Spider.jpg

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Dusty

[Dusty]

Here's a bee pollinating the radishes Peter Cottontail was eating.

Bee on Radish.jpg

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Dusty

[Juanito200]

Great idea for a thread Dusty, and a couple of good shots to begin with.
I was wondering what to do with these photos. Here are a couple from White Rock Lake. Both were kind enough to let Kevin and I take several shots and discuss techniques and such between shots. I hope you like them. C&C always welcome, John
P.S. On the dragonfly shot, I never noticed the spider until I was processing the images...Both with 100-300apo and a200

[David Kilpatrick]

Well, work fast folks. I can remember around 1990 when Shirley was doing her Open University science foundation course we had to set the moth traps in summer. If I sat indoors at night, the moths would be bombarding the windows. I sit here now, in the middle of the night in midsummer, and there is not a single insect fluttering against the pane. We have had one fly in the house the entire year (and we have four chickens improving the flavour our garden doorstep!). I saw one bee today, and running across the kirkyard tonight which used to be impossible (lungs full of midges in seconds) I swallowed just one midge. I know we have wasps because they are eating neat trails off the stained wood of my shed.

Shirley and I have been together for 40 years. In that time, one-third of all mammal populations have been wiped off the planet. The figure for insects is impossible to calculate or measure, as no accurate statistics have ever existed for the number of species or the size of populations. I just know that we don't have anything like the number (I can not say the variety) we used to have. We still have bats so there must be enough to sustain their feeding, but nothing like enough to be a nuisance to humans as they once were.

Those of you who live in areas rich in species and with high populations may still be able to capture images of a wide variety. But we're reaching the endgame, the closing chapter for the majority of all species on earth - the greatest mass extinction for 65 million years, and because of the exceptional diversity evolved in that time, the greatest ever loss of diversity.

Insects are very important. You see them as bugs. Your children's children will see them as livestock. Today's bushtucker trial is tomorrow's staple diet.

Henry, apparently you now have 11 surviving species of bird in the Hawaiian islands where there were ten times that number and more.

If you want to do something useful, document as many species (insects are good start) as you can and make your photographs available to local universities.

David

[bakubo]

Henry, apparently you now have 11 surviving species of bird in the Hawaiian islands where there were ten times that number and more.

If you want to do something useful, document as many species (insects are good start) as you can and make your photographs available to local universities.

I am sure Shirley and you know much more about this than I do, but I did find this:

The Pulelehua, or Kamehameha butterfly, is the official insect of Hawaii.

The University of Hawai'i Insect Museum

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/peps/museum/index.htm

Hawaii's Extinct Species -- Insects

http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/endangered/ext-insects.html

Just to keep this thread going I will post one of the very few insect photos I seem to have. This is a dragonfly and, I think, I took this in either Laos or someplace in Africa.

[Greg Beetham]

I think I posted this one of the Birdwing butterfly before somewhere but I can't remember where.
Greg

A100 KM100Macro (I think)

[Birma]

Great idea for a thread Dusty and great shots from everyone. Really nice Bokeh John. I am sure DK is right, but despite it being one of the warmest nights of the year I had to shut the window last night to keeps the moths out, and there was a pretty regular succession of tiny 'thuds'. The ants also seem to be doing well on our patio. Our local Starling population does seem to be down this year though.

[Birma]

The Cornish bees can grow very large - I believe that it is all of those cream teas that they must eat


This was taken at the Eden Project in Cornwall last week. (More photos from here at a later date.) http://www.edenproject.com/whats-it-all-about/index.php A great project I think, and a photographer's paradise; I even saw someone carrying a Medium Format camera about (perhaps a Phase One) on a huge tripod.

Not all of the bees are of this scale at the Eden Project, but the flowers are sometimes bigger .



Both shots with A700 + Min 50/1.7, the second taken by my wife, although all pp is my fault.

[KevinBarrett]

John, I shot that same bug with my beercan, remember?

f/14 seems to have revealed a few dust spots on my sensor...

[Juanito200]

Kevin of course! As I remember it was half way to the starvation point at that time. That is a fantastic image.. Better than mine I think. I should have used a smaller aperture...
Birma I may have to surrender the "Things are Bigger in Texas" title to you... At least for Bees anyway..

[Ewannawe]

Well, work fast folks. I can remember around 1990 when Shirley was doing her Open University science foundation course we had to set the moth traps in summer. If I sat indoors at night, the moths would be bombarding the windows. I sit here now, in the middle of the night in midsummer, and there is not a single insect fluttering against the pane. We have had one fly in the house the entire year (and we have four chickens improving the flavour our garden doorstep!). I saw one bee today, and running across the kirkyard tonight which used to be impossible (lungs full of midges in seconds) I swallowed just one midge. I know we have wasps because they are eating neat trails off the stained wood of my shed.

Shirley and I have been together for 40 years. In that time, one-third of all mammal populations have been wiped off the planet. The figure for insects is impossible to calculate or measure, as no accurate statistics have ever existed for the number of species or the size of populations. I just know that we don't have anything like the number (I can not say the variety) we used to have. We still have bats so there must be enough to sustain their feeding, but nothing like enough to be a nuisance to humans as they once were.

Sobering reading, and pushes my misanthropy gauge towards the red line.

[Birma]

Birma I may have to surrender the "Things are Bigger in Texas" title to you... At least for Bees anyway..

This a rare occurence indeed

Love the bug that you and KB captured - the way it is sitting amongst the fallen leaves you can imagine it thinking "I'm invisible now"

[Tony Meredith]

Here are a couple of green lacewings. The second lacewing is fairly old and looking a bit knocked around. The first photo was taken on my old nikon and is the reason i now have a sony alpha. please excuse the sensor dust.

[sury]

Fantastic posts so far. Thank you very much for providing those images.
Very inspiring. David, you are so right. Humans probably are one of those
rare species who seem to be "hell" bent upon ruining their own habitat.
Very ironic considering we are supposed to be the top of the food chain.

Sury

[Birma]

Very interesting pictures Tony - I really like the second shot - what an amazing looking eye the Lacewing has.

David, you are so right. Humans probably are one of those
rare species who seem to be "hell" bent upon ruining their own habitat.
Very ironic considering we are supposed to be the top of the food chain.
Sury

Just my idle musings . While normally being a supporter of all things 'green' I sometimes think we are misleading ourselves when we think we are "saving the planet". Although we, the human race, can damage the planet, ultimately it is us we are trying to save. What ever damage we do, even to the point of eradicating human life, the planet will continue and life will adapt as it has to numerous other catastrophic events. So; go green, save the humans !