Variations on a theme

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

Variations on a theme

Post by NikonUser »

'Jaws' of dragonfly larvae.
Both of these guys are predators that catch live prey with these 'jaws'. The same basic design but different 'teeth' pattern.

reversed 50/2.8 El Nikkor enlarging lens @ f/5.6; about 4x magn. on a 23.6 mm sensor; single flash above subjects; each about 30 frames @ 0.05 mm. ZS PMax

[I was just testing a new flash diffuser and apart from some blown highlights in the 2nd image (correctable with a layer or two of strategically placed tissue paper), the diffuser seems useful in illuminating the lower half of the subjects.
Details under equipment later].
Image
NU10052
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

seta666
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Location: Castellon, Spain

Post by seta666 »

Those jaws are amazing, looks like a crab. Interested in seeing that diffuser ;-)
Regards

realjax
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Post by realjax »

What's even more amazing is how they can lunge those jaws forward in a split second to grab their prey..

Nice captures !
Jacco

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Also interesting is that these "jaws" are not mandibles, but rather parts of a modified labium.

See HERE for a labeled illustration and some discussion. Don't be surprised when the article starts off talking about moray eels!

--Rik

NikonUser
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Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Post by NikonUser »

Thanks folks.
I didn't want to get technical but the image Rik refers to is for a Darner (Fam: Aeshnidae) nymph (or larva) where the labium is underneath the head.
These 2 images are from the famlies Corduliidae (Emeralds) and Cordulegastidae (Spiketails) where the toothy part of the labium is in front of the head. So looking at these 2 head on one sees the 'teeth' as in my images.
Looking at a Darner head on you just see a bit of the the two spikes, beneath the head.
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

The BAT
Posts: 111
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2009 5:32 pm
Location: Ballarat, Australia

Post by The BAT »

Geez fellas,

Lucky our 'puters have got spell check. . .

labia/labium. . . . :shock:

kinda gets confusing for us non-scientific type folks. . . . :?

Bruce

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

Post by NikonUser »

Hey Bruce, Blame Rik
I was happy with Jaws and Teeth, in inverted commas of course.
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: 23561
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
Contact:

Post by rjlittlefield »

Geez indeed...and just when I was getting single- versus double-quotes under control, and deciding whether 'Jaws' and "jaws" were the same... Wait, what's an "inverted comma"? And where is that "tearing hair out" emoticon??

Bruce, did you look at the illustration on the page that I linked to? Sorry I can't in-line it, but the exact illustration is HERE. Or were you, ahem, referring to the fact that these words are sometimes used to refer to body parts of other than insects?

--Rik

The BAT
Posts: 111
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2009 5:32 pm
Location: Ballarat, Australia

Post by The BAT »

rjlittlefield wrote:Geez indeed...Bruce were you, ahem, referring to the fact that these words are sometimes used to refer to body parts of other than insects?

--Rik
Hi Rik, do I have to go to my corner. . . again? . . . :cry:
Honest Rik, I just knew that if you get caught playin wiff wimmen ya can git bit! But I had no idea them things had fangs like 'that' in 'em. . . :shock:

I'm going to my corner now. . . . :arrow: :arrow: :arrow:

Bruce

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

I fear my entomological background is showing. :lol:

I actually did not see the double entendre until after I searched the page for "labia" (it wasn't there) and then did a Google define: labia to see what else you might be talking about.

I suppose I can claim distraction, since I am simultaneously trying to deal with the image upload problem, but to be honest, I don't think I would have seen it anyway!

--Rik

g4lab
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Joined: Fri May 23, 2008 11:07 am

Post by g4lab »

Just to be painfully pedantic it would be Labium (singular neuter) Labia (plural neuter) in classic Latin. It means lip or lips.

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

Post by NikonUser »

Diffuser HERE
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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