Creepy Crawlies!

[troy]

Another marvelous set the green color of the jaws and eyes is amazing and combines perfectly with the yellow leaves. It's cute how they sometimes seem to try to hide their fangs with their frontal legs Beautiful images!

Thanks! Yeah those green chelicerae really do steal the show on these guys. I also like the way they seem to hide the fangs it's kind of surprising how big the fangs are when they decide to show them.

 

[SilverSteel]

Nut Weevil (Curculio nucum)
With a mite on the tip of his snout. Stack of 100+ images

 

[troy]

Nut Weevil (Curculio nucum)
With a mite on the tip of his snout. Stack of 100+ images
View attachment 1372230

Wow! That is amazing. Is that a handheld stack or is it on a rail?

 

[SilverSteel]

Wow! That is amazing. Is that a handheld stack or is it on a rail?

Thanks, i used a manual rail mounted on a tripod for this one. Also the leave the weevil was sitting on, was secured by my plant clamp. It was a chilly morning and still early when i found this weevil, so i had a bit of time before he started to warm up and move away. There is a small dew drop on his eye.

 

[troy]

Thanks, i used a manual rail mounted on a tripod for this one. Also the leave the weevil was sitting on, was secured by my plant clamp. It was a chilly morning and still early when i found this weevil, so i had a bit of time before he started to warm up and move away. There is a small dew drop on his eye.

Thanks for the info. I did notice the dew drop. Great work with the manual rail.

 

[SilverSteel]

Same Weevil different perspective

And here is another weevil with my thumbnail for scale.

 

[Steve56]

Beautiful photography @SilverSteel !

I just noticed this thread and this is an image a friend of mine in Florida sent me - a ’stick bug’ on his window screen. We have them here in Tennessee too, or used to, no one ever sees one except children because in their natural environment, the camouflage is nearly perfect, and looking closely at nature at hand is not a priority of adults.

I’d like to do more in this area and am an old large format person (not well suited to macro).

 

[troy]

Same Weevil different perspective
View attachment 1372346

Another great one! Weevils are some of the strangest looking creatures out there. I've gotten a few shots of them, but it is so hard to get enough depth of field without stacking to show off just how odd they really are. You've captured it well and even got the mite and due drop in too.

 

[troy]

Beautiful photography @SilverSteel !

I just noticed this thread and this is an image a friend of mine in Florida sent me - a ’stick bug’ on his window screen. We have them here in Tennessee too, or used to, no one ever sees one except children because in their natural environment, the camouflage is nearly perfect, and looking closely at nature at hand is not a priority of adults.

I’d like to do more in this area and am an old large format person (not well suited to macro).

View attachment 1372347

Great shot thanks for sharing it. We have them around here too, but they are so hard to find.

 

[SilverSteel]

Beautiful photography @SilverSteel !

I just noticed this thread and this is an image a friend of mine in Florida sent me - a ’stick bug’ on his window screen. We have them here in Tennessee too, or used to, no one ever sees one except children because in their natural environment, the camouflage is nearly perfect, and looking closely at nature at hand is not a priority of adults.

I’d like to do more in this area and am an old large format person (not well suited to macro).

Thanks @Steve56, this Stick bug is really amazing. I would love to see one of those, but i dont think they live here in Germany.

If you are used to large format photography, then you definitely have enough patience and dedication for macro.
Digital cameras made macro photography much more easily accessible, because you dont need to worry too much about missed/out of focus shots and "focus stacking" really expands the possibilities.

 

[Steve56]

Yes and the iPhone 13 has a macro mode that works well, I’m just beginning to explore that!

Phone cameras astound me with what they can do. Apple, Samsung, Google are throwing millions of dollars at phone cameras. The ‘big names’ like Canon and Nikon are really behind in the technology race.

 

[SilverSteel]

Yes and the iPhone 13 has a macro mode that works well, I’m just beginning to explore that!

Phone cameras astound me with what they can do. Apple, Samsung, Google are throwing millions of dollars at phone cameras. The ‘big names’ like Canon and Nikon are really behind in the technology race.

Yes, those phone cameras are impressive and they have been the pioneers of computational photography which has then also expanded into bigger mirrorless cameras. I'm sure we are going to see more of this in the future.
The small sensors of phone cameras can be beneficial for macro photography but there are also certain limits when it comes to lens and light.

 

[Steve56]

Amen!

 

[JPO]

Nut Weevil (Curculio nucum)
With a mite on the tip of his snout. Stack of 100+ images
View attachment 1372230

This is amazing. I need to brush up on my focus stacking skills

 

[SilverSteel]

Jewel beetle (Anthaxia nitidula)
Handheld stack

 

[SilverSteel]

Another great one! Weevils are some of the strangest looking creatures out there. I've gotten a few shots of them, but it is so hard to get enough depth of field without stacking to show off just how odd they really are. You've captured it well and even got the mite and due drop in too.

Yes I also like weevils. Actually they are one of the largest family of creatures but go widely unnoticed to the public. I don't think I ever saw a weevil before I started macro photography, but once you start paying attention you see them everywhere.
Those nut weevils are very peculiar looking with this elongated snout. They use them to drill holes into nuts and place their eggs inside.

 

[troy]

Jewel beetle (Anthaxia nitidula)
Handheld stack
View attachment 1376094

Beautiful colors!

 

[troy]

Female cellar spider with eggs

 

[SilverSteel]

Italian striped bug (Graphosoma italicum italicum)

 

[SilverSteel]

Flower Crab Spider (Misumena Vatia) with prey.

 

[njpaddy]

Finding black widows around our house in Florida in the 70s, when our kids were small, was scary. Finding a mantis around our house in NJ after we moved back was always a thrill for me. I loved seeing a mantis. I still remember sitting through 4 showings of "The Deadly Mantis" as a kid in the 1950s, and getting punished for missing supper. They are fascinating.

 

[Kilroy6644]

I was smoking my pipe before work, and this lady landed on my windshield.