Globular springtail focus stack

LordV · Post by **LordV** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:05 pm

Taken at 5:1 with an MPE-65 F6.3 and hand stacked from 5 shots.
The springtail is about 2mm body length.

Brian V.

Click on Pic for larger size

into.the.airwaves · Post by **into.the.airwaves** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:14 pm

Oh wow.
This is an amazing picture!

But, what exactly is this little creature? It looks like some sort of flea.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:21 pm

Nice work, Brian! One focus plane spot-on perfect to catch the eye, and the others spread across the body just close enough together to give the impression of sharp everywhere. A wonderful example of fieldcraft.

--Rik

LordV · Post by **LordV** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:26 pm

into.the.airwaves wrote:Oh wow.
This is an amazing picture!

But, what exactly is this little creature? It looks like some sort of flea.

Well it belongs in the Collembola group where the experts are arguing about whether they are insects or not. It's Dicyrtomina ornata a nice looking globular springtail that grazes often in small herds on biofilms normally on damp surfaces. As the name suggests they have a tail coiled under them that they can release and jump higher than a flea size for size. You may be more familar with other pale springtails that are often found under flower pots and jump everywhere when you lift the pot.

Brian V.

jmlphoto · Post by **jmlphoto** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 1:38 pm

nice and sharp! great shot

LordV · Post by **LordV** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:56 pm

Thanks Rik and Jordan

I like these little fellahs - look like 6 legged alien cows to me

You can see they actually walk on tip toe on the tip/edge of their outer claw.
Brian V.

cactuspic · Post by **cactuspic** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:16 pm

Great stack Brian. I am amazed to see a 5 slice stack hand held at that magnification. Great work.

Irwin

JoanYoung · Post by **JoanYoung** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:35 am

Great shot Brian. I have to sometime see if I can find some here to compare to yours.

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 5:03 am

Really good shot, springtails are amazing things!

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 5:38 am

Brian wrote:

Well it belongs in the Collembola group where the experts are arguing about whether they are insects or not.

As I have mentioned before, I am not really up on insects but I am assuming the argument is coming from the fact that the Collembola have no thorax or other segmentaion relevant to Arthropods, only a head and abdomen but yet have six legs like other arthropods of the Class Hexapoda, interesting.

acerola · Post by **acerola** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 9:04 am

Very nice picture. I envy it.

Harold Gough · Post by **Harold Gough** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:01 am

The Collembola have been my taxonomic speciality for decades and I have published a number of papers. However, other things, mainly photography, have pushed them aside for several years. Their body shapes are fascinating, some being very exotic. They were the oldest fossil insects found and have changed little since Devonian times. They differ from other insects in continuing to grow after reaching sexual maturity.

For many, many years I had hoped to obtain an Olympus OM 20mm f2 auto bellows lens, with the springtails in mind. I obtained such a lens last year, only for it be be stolen last month, unused. I now have a replacement. I hope to capture them without use of stacking.

Here is a website with further pictures:

http://www.stevehopkin.co.uk/collembolagallery/

Steve Hopkin was killed in a road traffic acident in 2006. I had been among those helping him to finalise a key to the British species.

Harold

acerola · Post by **acerola** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:54 pm

Harold, here I have a picture from springtails. This picture is made without stacking. So there are hope you can manage it also. (You will have a little less DOF with slide)

Roy Patience · Post by **Roy Patience** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:53 pm

Brian,

What a great picture. These creatures look like something out of an animated movie. The colors and composition are excellent.

Do they sit still or do you have to stalk them.

Roy