Hunting Tiger Beetle

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

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Troels
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Hunting Tiger Beetle

Post by Troels »

Since I posted my pictures of the deadly traps of the Tiger Beetle larvae two years ago: here and here , I have looked for an opportunity to catch the adult insect.

This hot and dry summer has been perfect for heat loving animals like this. Unfortunately the heat also makes them very fast and alert. So many pictures of adult Cicindelas show them eating a prey they don't want to leave.

I got this picture showing the Cicindela hybrida in a short break during the hunt.
Image
The animal is around 14 mm long.
Notice how the long legs elevates the body from the burning hot sand. The lower side of the body is also protected with long white hairs.
Troels Holm, biologist (retired), environmentalist, amateur photographer.
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davholla
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Post by davholla »

Very nice, in the UK they can be easy to see in sandy places. Is it the same in Denmark?

Troels
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Post by Troels »

Yes, they are fairly common along sandy roads on warm summerdays.
In fact we have two common species, the brown Cicindela hybrida (pictured here) and the metallic green C. campestris. Both are widespread over Europe.

The very nice green one is still on my to-do-list.
Troels Holm, biologist (retired), environmentalist, amateur photographer.
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MarkSturtevant
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Post by MarkSturtevant »

I too really like tiger beetles. About 3 species where I live. Challenging, of course, since they usually don't let one get close enough for my 100mm macro. If i had a 200mm macro, I suppose the number of successes would increase.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

tpe
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Post by tpe »

Very nice pic Troels. Having taken pics of the Danish species and a number of others i can say this is impressive, because the Danish species is much more lively and skittish than the others i have seen. They are very difficult to get a pic face on, where as other species seem inquisitive and present for portraits far more often.

dunksargent
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Post by dunksargent »

Excellent image … did it require stacking?

dunk
And now for something completely different.

Troels
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Post by Troels »

Thanks for commenting to all.

dunksargent,
To make a really sharp picture I would have to do some stacking. But my equipment (and my old hands) do not allow me to do this while working handheld with a focal lenght of 200mm and a crop factor of 2 and a never resting animal.

So this is a compromise: Single shot at 1/500 sec. f: 9.5
I would have preferred f:11 or maybe 16. But anything longer than 1/500 got blurred.

Some photographers like André De Kesel has developed a technique to do handheld field focus bracketing with excellent results.

If I had seen his picture of Cincindela before posting my own, I would probably have hesitated.

I really want to work in that direction.
Troels Holm, biologist (retired), environmentalist, amateur photographer.
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MarkSturtevant
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Post by MarkSturtevant »

There is this product which will let you do very rapid focus bracketing in the field: https://www.heliconsoft.com/heliconsoft ... n-fb-tube/
But still, the Cicindelids would have to sit still for several seconds.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

Troels
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Post by Troels »

Mark,
Thanks for the hint!

But unfortunately this focus bracketing device is only designed for Nikon and Canon mounts. And since I use Olympus it is not really an option.

An other possibility is to design a handhold sliding rail for guiding the camera while pushing it slowly forward. André De Kesel has som pictures on his Flickr site of a homemade device. That is something I will try as soon as possible.
Troels Holm, biologist (retired), environmentalist, amateur photographer.
Visit my Flickr albums

JH
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Post by JH »

Nice pucture of a difficult subject!
Best regards
Jörgen Hellberg
Jörgen Hellberg, my webbsite www.hellberg.photo

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