Tiger Beetle: Head-capsule

morfa · Post by **morfa** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 3:51 am

High resolution version here

Fujifilm S5pro, Leitz Milar 40/4.5, PB-6 Bellows

Stacked in Zerene Stacker (PMAX) from 27 exposures. Background modified in PS to add some depth.

Here is a less modified synthetic cross-eyed stereogram:

Thanks for viewing!

/John

Harold Gough · Post by **Harold Gough** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:17 am

John,

Lovely textures and colours. I don't think I've seen a close-up before.

"Skull" had me wondering, in that it refers to the fleshless head of a vertebrate. Perhaps you were drawing attention to the likeness?

Harold

morfa · Post by **morfa** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:33 am

Thank you Harold!

I honestly wasn't sure what to call it. What would be the correct term for an invertebrate? I didn't just want to call it "head", because (for some reason) I want to be very clear about the fact that the beetle isnt' alive and that the subject is posed (I guess this isn't very important on this particular forum but I just used the same title as in my public flickr stream). Also, the antennae are missing here and I thought "skull" better indicated that it had been separated from other parts of the body.

/John

Harold Gough · Post by **Harold Gough** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:42 am

John,

In that case, having checked, as I have never used the term myself, the correct term is head capsule or head-capsule:

http://www.earthlife.net/insects/anat-head.html

Harold

Planapo · Post by **Planapo** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:48 am

The stereo works great! One can look deep down into the openings where the antennae were inserted and between the mandibles and clypeus.

I'd say head capsule would be an appropriate substitute for "skull", if the natives aggree, that is!

Skål!

--Betty

edit: Ah, Harold was faster! And approved!

morfa · Post by **morfa** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:03 am

Aha, thank you both! Title changed

Betty> Rik takes all the credit for the stereo of course – I just pushed the button! The stereo-rocking sequence worked quite nicely as well.

/John

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 1:46 pm

This is great fun to look at -- thanks for the excellent image and the kind words!

I've never thought about what to call something like this. I've used "head capsule" before to describe what caterpillars drop when molting (like HERE). But it works just fine for this tiger beetle too, especially since we can look inside the thing.

--Rik

Harold Gough · Post by **Harold Gough** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 4:03 am

rjlittlefield wrote:I've never thought about what to call something like this.

There is quite a precedent, in a different context, for "trophy"

Harold

Graham46 · Post by **Graham46** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:49 am

A good stereo image will keep you looking for much longer than just a quick glance--this does just that. Great job!

The BAT · Post by **The BAT** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:45 am

Great pics John.
Bizarre lookin critter. . . .
Bruce