Symbiotic Relationship - Aphids and Ants...Charles Chien

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twebster
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Symbiotic Relationship - Aphids and Ants...Charles Chien

Post by twebster »

Submitted by Charles Chien...

Image


D30, MP-E 65 f2.8 with 12mm extension tube at around 5x, lighted with two flashes, 1/250 sec. at f16. Setup on a tripod. Sharpened and resized. No cropping.

This is an old one that was taken in July 2002. It's one that I felt so lucky to encounter, but unfortunately, I have not seen such a scene since... I will, of course, keep searching.

What follow are the comments I had at the time... When I realized that there were flocks of aphids on a stem of grass yesterday, I had been trying to get a shot of an ant picking up a droplet from an aphid since. I spent quite a few hours and got about 8 shots of such yesterday, but not with the perspective that I wanted. Tonight when I got home from work, I set it up, but unfortunately the aphids were all facing far from the "right" direction to the camera, and I was not able to get any good shot. One of the aphid, next to the big one in this photo, left. This one, originally facing the camera, turned side-way just as it is shown. I was so happy, and could almost visualize this shot. A few minutes later, this ant came along and "drummed" the body of the aphid with its antennae, and this aphid raised its behind, and I pressed the shutter!!!

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