More flys

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

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Ken Ramos
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More flys

Post by Ken Ramos »

Seems as though for a guy who wanted to photograph things other than a lot of insects this year, bugs seem to be coming out of the woodwork. Oh well, bugs are bugs and I just like taking pictures anyway. :lol:

Image

As usual I was taking my lunchtime stroll around company property when I ran across this thing. My boss had the grounds keepers mow the large field in beind the plant where all the wildflowers used to bloom, so no bugs there anymore. Don't know what he thinks he is paying me for. :lol:

Image

You know pine trees can harbor some strange stuff if you prowl around in the needles long enough. You may even pick up a few "ticks" along the way. Picked a few off'n me this afteroon after getting this shot. Hope they didn't catch anything. :roll: I used to hang from the limbs of trees like that back when I was a kid, peeping through peoples windows. :lol:

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

That second one is sure an interesting posture, with that one leg hanging down. Is this captured in mid-movement, or was he stuck that way? Any relationship to the little bit of spider web I can see?

--Rik

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

It was pretty well put there Rik, occasionally it would move a bit but did not when I took the photograph. I hung around and watched it for a good while. At first I thought it to be a bee with that funny abdomen but head looks to be a fly. As for a spider being anywheres aroud, I think that is just the vestiges of an old web.

Thanks Rik :D

Planapo
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Post by Planapo »

So here we may have another chapter of the story of solitary bees and wasps and their parasites:

That second picture shows a conopid fly (Diptera: Conopidae).
They parasitize other insects, mainly solitary bees and wasps.

The adult female darts down on its host, clutches onto it and oviposits between the host´s abdominal segments. The larva will then devour the host from the inside. In the process the parasite larva attaches its own tracheal system to that of the host for oxygen supply. Quite a marvelous adaptation, isn´t it?!

--Betty

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

In the process the parasite larva attaches its own tracheal system to that of the host for oxygen supply. Quite a marvelous adaptation, isn´t it?!
Ack! :shock: Now we know where science fiction writers get their material. Yes that is a rather marvelous :?: adaptation but for who? Glad they don't go around parasitizing people. :lol: However, science fiction writers have this wierd thing of having their material become reality. :-k

Thanks Betty :D

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Marvelous indeed, if a bit gruesome.

Somehow this reminds me of a brief essay in the May/June 2008 issue of the Sierra Club magazine that just arrived in my mailbox.

The top part of one page shows only a large photo -- a blurry spiral of green, with two crisp heads in the middle: one bird, one snake.

The caption, in fine print, says only "A western diamondback sinks its fangs into a green jay in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas".

But the whole bottom third of the page is occupied by a block of large print:
It is told that Buddha, going out to look on life, was greatly daunted by death.
'They all eat one another?' he cried, and called it evil.
This process I examined, changed the verb, said 'They all feed one another," and called it good.


--Charlotte Perkins Gilman, author and lecturer, from her 1935 autobiography.
"Photograph by Dave Welling" is all else the magazine says. But Google quickly found his home page, and the photo is right there front and center, with a link to a larger version.

I have no idea how the photographer was at the right place and time, set up to capture the picture. But it seems that marvelous adaptations abound -- including the photographer, his photo equipment, Google, and the stuff that lets us talk about this!

--Rik

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

This guy really loves his snakes! Maybe him and MikeB could do a shoot together. :lol:

salden
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Post by salden »

Ken, the second image is interesting, but I like the first one. It stands out for me with the different shades of green. Nice detail on that fly, especially around the legs.
Sue Alden

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

Sue wrote:
Ken, the second image is interesting, but I like the first one.
I like the first one too but it seems a bit dark, maybe my monitor but I have been having problems keeping my images a bit brighter here of late. I tend to stop down to much not wanting to blow highlights and bright colors and not using sufficent flash to compensate for background loss I think. Though as of a day or so ago I have refrained from using high shutter speeds above 1/100 sec. and now more around 1/60 th of a sec. with aparatures in the 8 to 6.3 range, with some lower and I am getting better results with moderate fill flash and much more relaxed detail, the detail is there just no hard edges.

The second one I like too but there are "hard highlights" that scatter the light, giving the photo, in my terms, a "trashy" appearance. Still there is some good detail in it I think and a nice bit of color. :D

Thanks Sue :D

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