Honey bee hamuli... natures "velcro"

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Charles Krebs
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Honey bee hamuli... natures "velcro"

Post by Charles Krebs »

The front and hind wings of the honey bee are held together in flight by a row of tiny hooks at the leading edge of the rear wing. These hooks, called hamuli, (from the Latin hamus... "hook"), grasp a "ledge" made by a stiff fold on the trailing edge of the front wing. They must be pretty tough... a honey bee beats its wings about 230 times a second, and a worker bee lives for about 6 weeks. And it's a time proven technology too!... last year I photographed hamuli on a tiny wasp that had gotten trapped in amber about 30million years ago:
http://www.photomacrography1.net/forum/ ... ght=hamuli

10/0.30 Nikon CFN Plan, Canon 350D. 40 frames stacked with Helicon Focus.
Image

40X Olympus M, Canon 350D. 45 frames stacked in Helicon Focus.
Image
Last edited by Charles Krebs on Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ken Ramos
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Post by Ken Ramos »

Natures desgin is quite awesome, she uses her resources in the simplest and most effective ways. 30 million years ago was a long time Charlie. Who was president back then...Truman? :-k

Beautiful shots as always and good clear details. Since you have the bee dismantled, how about a shot of that rail to where these hooks attach, maybe with a little micromanipulation you could enjoin them. :D

Charles Krebs
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Post by Charles Krebs »

Ken...
maybe with a little micromanipulation you could enjoin them
](*,) ... a bit beyond my capabilities with the toothpicks and tweezers I now use to prod things around! :wink:

piotr
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Post by piotr »

Truly amazing details, Charlie, and beautiful pictures.

beetleman
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Post by beetleman »

WOW...look at the lighting on these pictures....pure professional IMO. wonderful subjest also Charles...just beautiful.
Take Nothing but Pictures--Leave Nothing but Footprints.
Doug Breda

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