I was just out familiarizing myself with a new lens this evening.
Here's the most interesting thing I found: some tiny mites apparently scavenging on the surface of a maple seed wing.
Shot with Canon T1i camera, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM lens on 68 mm of Kenko extension tubes, Canon 580EX II Speedlite, E-TTL exposure at 1/250 sec.
Manual merge of two images at f/5.6 and f/8.
Slight horizontal crop to about 80% of frame width (9 mm wide as shown):
Actual pixels (from 4752x3168, f/5.6 on left, f/8 on right):
This lens is beautifully sharp, even on tubes like this where it runs at about 1.9X.
--Rik
Tiny mites on maple seed wing
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Thanks for commenting, guys.
@Mitch, I think you're right about the little white things. They look vaguely like pine pollen, which the streets are full of right now.
@DeVil, I'm pretty sure we're seeing scavenging, not predation. That black bug on its back has been lying around for quite a while, judging from the shriveled antenna.
@Cactusdave, I agree completely about the lens -- it's very good, and expensive to match. On the bright side(?), given the weight of the lens and camera and flash, I can probably write off some of the cost as "exercise equipment".
--Rik
@Mitch, I think you're right about the little white things. They look vaguely like pine pollen, which the streets are full of right now.
@DeVil, I'm pretty sure we're seeing scavenging, not predation. That black bug on its back has been lying around for quite a while, judging from the shriveled antenna.
@Cactusdave, I agree completely about the lens -- it's very good, and expensive to match. On the bright side(?), given the weight of the lens and camera and flash, I can probably write off some of the cost as "exercise equipment".
--Rik
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Typical size, aka seed mites. The smallest Collembola are 0.25mm.rjlittlefield wrote:So, we're looking at adult mites whose body length is about 0.4 mm.
And now I know what are those little specks moving around on the surface of my compost pile.
Cool!
Mites can be a lot smaller e.g. the sclerotized Prostigmata such as Scutacaridae, Pyemotidae and Tarsonemidae, the group including some pest species - small but deadly - also itch mites and gall mites!
Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.