Two tiny mayflies on a writin' stick

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 8:55 am

Mayflies come in many shapes and sizes! These are on the small end of what live in my area.

They are also the only ones I have noticed so far that have strongly dimorphic eyes. The eyes of the female (on the underside of the pencil) are what you'd probably expect. The eyes of the male (on top of the pencil) are split into two sections, with the upper section greatly enlarged. See this posting for details of the male's eyes.

--Rik

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 9:40 am

Simply amazing photo Rik. The pencil is perfect for the scale. I have never seen mayflies this small.

Mike B in OKlahoma · Post by **Mike B in OKlahoma** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 2:59 pm

What a great idea for showing scale!!!

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 3:23 pm

Rik you're making me want to hit the stream!

Look at those little guys, natures perfect insect IMO, well if your a fly fisherman and a big mayfly fan.

paul · Post by **paul** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:18 pm

That is an amazing image, Rik. How on earth did you get them to pose so beautifully? Adding the sense of scale to your earlier super-image of the male.
I don't think I have seen a mayfly in years (except in TV ads by Vodafone recently). Must explore this a bit.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:38 am

paul wrote:That is an amazing image, Rik. How on earth did you get them to pose so beautifully?

Hah! For this there is no technical trick!!

I chilled the mayflies in a refrigerator while I set up the pencil in a patch of sun in a window sill and positioned tripod, camera, and macro lens to match.

Then using forceps on the wings only, I picked the mayflies out of their container, placed them on the pencil, and chased them around while shooting numerous pictures.

Finally, I posted the best of the batch!

--Rik