Two tiny mayflies on a writin' stick
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- rjlittlefield
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Two tiny mayflies on a writin' stick
Mayflies come in many shapes and sizes! These are on the small end of what live in my area.
They are also the only ones I have noticed so far that have strongly dimorphic eyes. The eyes of the female (on the underside of the pencil) are what you'd probably expect. The eyes of the male (on top of the pencil) are split into two sections, with the upper section greatly enlarged. See this posting for details of the male's eyes.
--Rik
- Mike B in OKlahoma
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- rjlittlefield
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Hah! For this there is no technical trick!!paul wrote:That is an amazing image, Rik. How on earth did you get them to pose so beautifully?
I chilled the mayflies in a refrigerator while I set up the pencil in a patch of sun in a window sill and positioned tripod, camera, and macro lens to match.
Then using forceps on the wings only, I picked the mayflies out of their container, placed them on the pencil, and chased them around while shooting numerous pictures.
Finally, I posted the best of the batch!
--Rik