Calosoma wilcoxi

Back at the end April I had a chance to escape from classes and get out into the field for a weekend of collecting and photography. The day was slightly cooler than anticipated but still productive; throughout the day I saw numerous Calosoma wilcoxi scuttling about. While smaller than its larger cousin C. scrutator, this species is still quite vividly colored – a striking combination of green, blue and some red edging.

The sheer number of beetle present was possibly the most surprising; I saw beetles running on the trunks of tress, on the road, and even, in copious amounts, in the leavings from a small mammal. This did make for many great, though at times frustrating, photographic opportunities.

Further information on Calosoma wilcoxi, C. scrutator, or on all of the species from Virginia.

spring has sprung…

and the Dogwoods are in bloom. Molorchus bimaculatus is a small cerambycid which commonly frequents flowers in the early spring; sure enough they were out in numbers this past Friday.

This mating pair was quite oblivious to my intrusion and went on about their business, or rather, the female went on about feeding and the male, well, went on about his business.

a look at Callophrys wings

These stunning green-patterned wings are those of Callophrys gryneus gryneus, the “Olive” Juniper Hairstreak. I was experimenting with some old Canon gear, a FD bellows and 35mm bellows lens, hoping to create a composite image of a butterfly’s wing. But, creating a clean series turns out to be impractical as the focus differed too much between shots. I instead focused on the patterns of green, white, black and brown on the wings, examining the melding of and contrast between the different colors.

The minute scales are arranged in such fine, detailed patterns which I always find it quite fascinating. But is not just the arrangement of these scales which catch my eye, rather the green color; it is not merely a smooth, consistent color across the scales, but instead glitters, as light reflecting off a rough surface. Though quite familiar with this iridescent, structure-based coloration in tropical butterflies, for whatever reason I had not quite expected to see it in this species.

Below a 100% crop of the image gives a better idea of the magnification achieved; the green color of the scales is also more evident.

After seeing the rough, glittering quality of the green scales I wanted to get a closer look. Using an old microscope, I focused on a single scale, first illuminating it from below and then from above. The difference was quite remarkable; lit from below the scale lost almost all of its vibrant green color, replaced with a mottled, muddy brown instead. But, lit from above, the startling green color reappeared, now glittering more than ever.

First two photos taken with a Canon 7D, FD to EOS adapter, Canon FD Auto bellows, 35mm macro lens, and 580 EX lens. Third image taken with a Canon 7D, homemade microscope adapter, and 580 EX flash; top image using transmitted light, bottom with reflected light.

feeling antsy…

This summer I photographed quite a few ants, so here are the best of the bunch:

Photos taken with a Canon 7D , 65mm macro lens, and 580EX flash unit.

And yes, I did just go for the awful pun…

some cool wings…

Here is an interesting article from this week’s issue of PNAS:

WIPs, Wing Interference Patterns, are colourful patterns reflecting from thin transparent wings in small insects. The purpose of WIPs remains to be discovered but since the colours in the WIPs are the colours insects are most receptive to a signalling function seems very probable (Link)

A good overview of an overlooked facet of many small wasps and flies – and possibly a good taxonomic aid with further research. Go take a look – it’s well worth a read. For more WIP images, see here

my favorite shots from 2010

And once again it’s time for my top five favorite shots from 2010:

Cicindela albissima female with prey, Kanab UT

Agapostemon sp. on flower

Jumping spider on flower

Agapostemon sp. feeding

“You feeling lucky?”

shades of spring…

today was surprisingly warm – especially since it had snowed less than a week ago here. I finally got a chance to get out and take some photos; below is my favorite, an ant coated with water droplets.

 

jumper

And for fun here is a quick shot of a little jumping spider…

Taken at Three Lakes Nature center on November 21

A quick thought about polarizing filters…

While test various styles of diffusers I came across a one involving a rather unique method of removing highlights: cross polarization. As detailed in Wil Hershberger’s article here, this technique involving a polarizing filter and special polarizing film to cover the flash(s). I constructed a similar setup to the one shown in Wil’s article but with the Canon 100mm macro lens and MT-24 EX macro twin lite.

On the whole, the results of these tests were fairly pleasing – little to no highlights and pretty good color. But this did not hold for insects with iridescent coloration; the images of these species were dull and lacking in much of the natural coloration. Below is a combined series of the better images:

In all I found this method reasonable for only certain insects – ones with much iridescent coloration (particularly tiger beetles) were not well represented by this method.

A summer with the 580EX…

In my previous post I detailed my transition from using Canon’s MT-24 EX Twin Flash to the Canon 580 EX for macro work. Now, at last, here are a few samples of the lighting produced by the new setup. I have been quite pleased with the diffusion provided by the 580EX/Micro Apollo softbox combination – take and look for yourself and let me know what you think…