Interesting Cactus

Images taken in a controlled environment or with a posed subject. All subject types.

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NikonUser
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Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Interesting Cactus

Post by NikonUser »

Image
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

elf
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Post by elf »

Is it a Kaleidescope Cactus? :) It looks like it could have been created in one?

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Reminds me a bit of a Tent Caterpillar (Malacosoma). But everything seems a bit off for that. What is it really?

--Rik

Aynia
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Post by Aynia »

wow. My first reaction to this was... caterpillar too! :D

NikonUser
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Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Post by NikonUser »

Yes, it sure looks like a couple of segments from a Gypsy Moth caterpillar but I prefer Elf's interpretation: a "Kaleidescope Cactus".

Below is the full frame from which the crop was made.

Gypsy Moths are odd in that, introduced into North America (from Europe) where they have reached pest status and are surviving pesticide assaults, they have become extinct in the UK.
Image
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
Posts: 23564
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
Contact:

Post by rjlittlefield »

Gypsy moth, eh? That would explain my ignorance -- I've never seen one of those. Poking around on the web, I can't find anything that quite matches this pattern of tubercles and coloration. Do gypsy moths have a lot of individual variation, or change appearance a lot as they molt?

By the way, what's the technical information for this beautiful image? I'm presuming it's stacked, but how and where?

--Rik

NikonUser
Posts: 2693
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Post by NikonUser »

RE: ID. Hey Rik don't scare me like that! Never really thought about it, just intuitively knew (thought I knew) it was a Gypsy Moth.
Anyway it is, decent image on BG:
HERE

Technical stuff: basic;D90 200AF Micro Nikkor (used MF), 57 frames @ 0.1mm, ZS PMax (what else would anyone use?).

How and where:
Feeding on a Maple leaf, too windy outside so brought it indoors.
Actually it was incredibly docile - in fact too docile. It was alive and feeding when collected, next morning it was on this leaf and did not move a whisker - was dead the next am. Quite certain it was infected with a virus; that's a good way to keep bugs still.

Simple questions can lead to complex answers, wish I had kept it as a Kaleidoscope Cactus.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

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