Dragonfly Eggs

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svalley
Posts: 343
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Location: Albany, Oregon

Dragonfly Eggs

Post by svalley »

These are the eggs of the dragonfly Aeshna palmata, 25 days since oviposition. The brownish circular area near the bottom is the eye starting to form. The ommatidia in the eyes are starting to be visible. My plan is to follow the full development of the eggs and also get stills and video of the pronymph hatching and the development of the nymph.

Image

Darkfield lighting, Nikon D810, 10x Mitutoyo M Plan APO mounted on a 200mm Micro-Nikkor, f5.6 ISO 64, flash, 72 exposures stacked PMax in Zerene Stacker.
"You can't build a time machine without weird optics"
Steve Valley - Albany, Oregon

BugEZ
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Location: Loves Park Illinois

Post by BugEZ »

Very interesting subject and study! Thanks for sharing.

Would it be possible to make a stereo pair? With 75 images it might be interesting.

Keith

JH
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Post by JH »

Interesting project, and pictures.

Best regards Jörgen Hellberg
Jörgen Hellberg, my webbsite www.hellberg.photo

Troels
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Post by Troels »

Thanks! I will follow this.
Troels Holm, biologist (retired), environmentalist, amateur photographer.
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svalley
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Location: Albany, Oregon

Post by svalley »

Top is a lateral view of an egg on day 96 since oviposition. Note that the embryo has gone through katatrepsis where it flips ends so that it can hatch through the pointed end. The legs and thoracic and abdominal segments are clearly visible.

Bottom is a dorsal view at day 100. This egg hatched the next day. There is no synchronization in the development of the several hundred eggs in this clutch. They all were in diapause (interrupted development) for more than a month. The eggs that are outside (about half) are still in diapause. Katatrepsis which takes 10-12 hours occurs at random times and then development continues for about 2 more weeks before hatching.

Shot with a Nikon D810, Miyutoyo M Plan 20x mounted on a Micro-Nikkor 200mm, stacked with Zerene.

Image

A dorsal view of the nymph 5 days after hatching. Same setup as above with an Mitutoyo M Plan 10x.

Image

A ventral view of the same nymph. Note the labium folded back under the head and thorax. Same setup as above.

Image
"You can't build a time machine without weird optics"
Steve Valley - Albany, Oregon

Troels
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Post by Troels »

Excellent and interesting!
Troels Holm, biologist (retired), environmentalist, amateur photographer.
Visit my Flickr albums

BugEZ
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Location: Loves Park Illinois

Post by BugEZ »

I presume these are in a Petri dish? How do wou get them/ it to hold still for a stack?

Very interesting series!

Keith

svalley
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Joined: Sun Dec 03, 2006 7:07 pm
Location: Albany, Oregon

Post by svalley »

BugEZ wrote:I presume these are in a Petri dish? How do wou get them/ it to hold still for a stack?
Keith, these were shot in a well slide with a coverslip. The nymph had died recently so it made a good subject.

I have not had good luck shooting stacked subjects in a petri dish.

Steve
"You can't build a time machine without weird optics"
Steve Valley - Albany, Oregon

svalley
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Joined: Sun Dec 03, 2006 7:07 pm
Location: Albany, Oregon

Post by svalley »

A closer dorsal view shot with a Mitutoyo 20x. Note the tubercles with spines behind the eyes. I have not seen them before on any other species, function unknown.

Image

A ventral view showing a little better detail in the prehensile labium. It is mostly transparent making it difficult see. The nymph rapidly extends the labium to grasp prey using a pair of movable hooks at the anterior end.

Image
"You can't build a time machine without weird optics"
Steve Valley - Albany, Oregon

BugEZ
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Location: Loves Park Illinois

Post by BugEZ »

svalley wrote
shot in a well slide with a coverslip...
Thanks for the info. I am looking for ways to document the subterranean life of some fly larva but hope not to kill them. Not sure if I can persuade them to stay close to the glass walls of the tiny enclosure I plan to build...

Keith

Sumguy01
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Post by Sumguy01 »

:smt038 Very nice.
Interesting.
Thanks for sharing.

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