Water Stick (Ranatra Linearis (Heteroptera)) with Prey

Sven Bernert · Post by **Sven Bernert** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 3:40 pm

30D, EF 180 + 1.4x TC + Canon Ringflash, monopod,
manual exposure 1/125 @ f/16, ISO 800, crop (this is roughly 75% if the original image)

F16 because I was trying to get most of its legs sharp.

This little alien insect lives in my pond and is an interesting creature to observe. It moves using the rear and middle legs. Like all of its family members its Fore-legs are modified and raptorial. They are used to fix its prey (in a 1/300 of a second

).

Thanks for looking, c&c very welcome!

Best all,
Sven

Mike B in OKlahoma · Post by **Mike B in OKlahoma** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 5:00 pm

I've never seen this. Very interesting. He looks translucent (like you can almost see through him) is that the way he looks in real life?

twebster · Post by **twebster** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:20 pm

Now that's cool, Sven. I've seen walking sticks but I've never seen water sticks.

I definitely love the low angle you got, too.

Danny · Post by **Danny** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:39 pm

Yes the low angle works well M8t. These are hard to get in macro because they are so long. Well done in get it in and still showing those sharp details. Very nicely done Sven.

Always a pleasure to see you M8t. All the best in Germany my friend

Danny.

MacroLuv · Post by **MacroLuv** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:33 am

Nicely captured Sven.

Not easy subject for macro.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:06 am

An odd looking creature there Sven. I am sure that there are some around here too, probably I have just not noticed them.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:34 am

An excellent creature Sven...I have never seen anything like it here in the states. I did a bugguide search and it produced nothing on these critters

I agree on the angle

DaveW · Post by **DaveW** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 4:24 am

Found this on the Web:-

http://www.boxvalley.co.uk/nature/sns/wad58/w58-06.html

DaveW

Bruce Williams · Post by **Bruce Williams** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 6:25 am

An excellent capture Sven - nicely done too. If you have the time I would be interested to see a closer crop of the head and thorax - its such a bizarre looking creature.

Bruce

Sven Bernert · Post by **Sven Bernert** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 3:12 pm

Thanks guys!

Mike B in OKlahoma wrote:He looks translucent (like you can almost see through him) is that the way he looks in real life?

No Mike, these are just different shades of gray, I think the flash makes it then look translucent. I think the last image at the end of this post shows it nicely.

twebster wrote:I definitely love the low angle you got, too.

nzmacro wrote:Yes the low angle works well M8t.

Yup, I was quite low on the ground. I was using the Manfrotto (Bogen) Monopod Support, I think it is 3422 or so. It helps a lot getting steady support for the pod. Just the mini mall head is a bit on the small side.

Ken, Doug and Nikola - thanks guys. And Dave for the interesting link. The one photographed in the picture is smaller than the ones in that link. The pure body length is roughly half an inch (a bit over 1 cm).

Bruce, here is the crop you want to see that shows more head detail:

and here is an older image, that shows one of its relatives after murdering many small flies and moth

Waterstriders are close relatives being in the same family with the same hunting and killing behavior. I'll post an older image in a new thread.

Thanks again everyone for looking & commenting.

Sven