I don't have Canon gear, but when you reverse an AF lens, you don't have any aperture control, do you? If so, you are stuck with some pretty thin depth of field.

This a ventral view of the head of a Box Elder Bug Boisea trivittata http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/userpix/2226_Box_Elder_Bug_152_1.jpg 152 images in Zerene Stacker. The structure running down the middle is the "beak" folded into its groove. All I have left in my bottled insects are some fli...

Welcome aboard.

The Triatoma blood-suckers are native to North America. Their body length is about one-inch. I have read that their sensors are keyed to carbon dioxide. Fortunately, they are very slow-moving. Like many insects, they invade our houses in cooler weather. here is a stacked shot from my exhibit "More T...

This is a ventral view of the head section of an Hide Beetle, probably genus Trox. It is about 1 cm long and a yellow tan color. What interested me was the handlike antennae retracted under the head. http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/userpix/2226_Hide_Beetle_133_1.jpg 133 images stacked in Zeren...

Love the Cosmarium.

Almost through my bottles of insects from the summer. These are two different specimens of the Blood-sucking Conenose Assassin Bug, genus Triatoma. Dorsal view 110 shots in Zerene Stacker Swift 4X 0.10 160/.17 http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/userpix/2226_Assassin_Bug_Dorsal_110_1.jpg Ventral v...

Very nice. You even got a trace of the cilia. My vote is Phacus pleuronectes because the large central body (paramylum) is distinct and the chloroplasts are in longitudinal rows. My reference is How to Know the Protozoa (Jahn, Bovee & Jahn).

Thanks, Jacek. Positioning limbs on dead insects is a tedious process, but pedipalps are downright frustrating. You need a very fine teasing needle. I have some regular shirt pins in pin vices, but I needed something fine. I take insulin and the needles for the pens are very fine. I fill a hollow pl...

My best guess is lens flare or haze due to a dirty lens. Since this an older lens, you may also have some fungus inside the lens. Look through the lens with a loupe or magnifier against an illuminated white card and see if there are any patterns inside the glass.

Male Ghost Spider pedipalps. 159 shots in Zerene Stacker. Swift 4x 0.10 160/.17 http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/userpix/2226_Ghost_Spider_pedipalps_159_1.jpg I mentioned recently that with the colder weather, spiders are moving inside. The other night I woke up at 2 AM and found a False Wolf S...

One interesting aspect of Arcella is that they generate a gas bubble inside their test to make one side more bouyant when they want to turn over so they can walk on their pseudopods. Its an interesting process to watch.

Yep - Arcella. Nice detail.

Just got a very interesting book on spiders from Daedelus Books, which specializes in remaindered books. Spiders by Rod-Preston-Mafham. At 72 pages I thought it was going to be one of those child's picture books, but it is full of very interesting information on the habits and anatomy of spiders. Fo...

Love the Desmids, especially the Pediastrum.