Macro

Skipper - not a butterfly Everyone knows about butterflies and moths, right?  So, what the heck is a skipper?  A skipper belongs to the lepidoptera, which is the same order that moths and butterflies belong to.  What is interesting though is that they are neither moth nor butterfly.  It is a skipper.  It has the same scaly wings (lepidoptera means scale wing) as both other groups.  They look similar, more so to butterflies than moths, and have a similar life cycle.  But they are neither butterflies or moths. Butterflies have four wings which they hold vertically when at rest.  They also have antennae which have round knobs at the end of long, thin threadlike extensions.  Moths, on the other hand, have feathery antennae and rest with their wings flat across their backs.  They tend to have hairy bodies.   Enter the skippers.  They rest with wings upright, similar to butterflies, but often have some space separati...

Pale swallowtail butterfly feeding on nectar from flowers My wife does not like looking at pictures of bugs.  The only exception is for viewing shots of butterflies.  Now, even then the image has to have certain parameters.  For example, there should not be a close up of the body where its "bug like" form becomes more pronounced.  I guess it is the wings she finds acceptable.  Even their caterpillars, which seem amazing to me, are creatures which disgust her. I caught a female Polyphemus moth a while back.  It is a huge insect, with enormous bright wings  and something to behold.  She let me put it on her jacket and photograph her with it.  She even smiled.  If I could replace it with another wonderful insect, like a praying mantis for example, she would let out a scream which could wake the dead - not a thrilling prospect for kinemortophobes (people afraid of zombies).   The essential body plan is exactly the same, only ...

Hover fly feeding on a daisy's pollen. The above photo is that of a fly.  You can tell it is a fly because it only has two wings.  Wasps have four wings, which is true of most insect species.  Flies are the only insects which have two instead of four wings.  The second pair have been reduced into a set of balancing organs called halteres.  They are small "stick-like" structures with a small round head on them.  They are found just behind the first (only) pair of wings.  They vibrate during flight; they are thought to assist in balancing. This particular fly is not poisonous or dangerous at all.  In fact, any animal which might catch it for food would end up with a healthy meal.  The problem is that most animals would leave it alone.  The reason is simple enough; the yellow and black pattern looks familiar.  It happens to be the same pattern that yellow jacket wasps use. The yellow jacket wasp is notoriously grumpy.  The...

What do you need and how do you do it? I am almost finished writing my book on macro photography.  It has over 125 images (all colour except a few diagrams) and goes over most of the macro photographic equipment available today for the macro enthusiast. It is 94 pages long (as of this writing) and contains many tips, techniques, and suggestions on what you can do to improve your macro photography. It is the second edition, featuring a major revision of my first book on macro photography.  I cover a great deal including photos taken from a huge range of macro accessories and equipment.  It is meant to give the reader quite a range of options for capturing close up pictures.  We look at everything from simple and inexpensive to high tech and pricey.  It is meant to get the reader out and shooting with new ideas and perhaps a plan for the future.   The book will be available in bound form (8½ x 11 inch) and should go for about $40 canadian....

Golden Orb Weaver Spider - Florida My wife and I enjoy cruising.  We were booked on a cruise to the southern Caribbean, leaving out of Ft. Lauterdale, last spring.  I discovered some time ago that if you have to be somewhere anyways, it is a good idea to get there early and explore a bit.  So, we took a flight to Florida four days ahead of when our cruise was to leave.  The plan - check out the area and relax a bit to get ready for the cruise. I had booked a motel near the area we wanted to check out.  It was close to the beach and a major water way, and there was a wildlife park nearby.  So, all things considered, the price was right and the timing was perfect.  We arrived and got to our destination with four days to spend getting to know the place.  That was when the unthinkable happened - my travel laptop computer picked up a virus.  I am not sure where it happened; I have Norton and update it frequently.  But here I was, a host...

California sea cucumber  The coast of British Columbia offers some of the best diving in the world.  The oceans abound with life of all kinds, much of it visible at low tide or in tide pools.  The California sea cucumber is a good example, I have seen them during low tides in shallow water while kayaking.  This particular specimen was photographed in an open tank with a water depth of only a few inches.  The tank itself was designed so people could get a good look at whatever marine life happened to be present. Sea cucumbers belong to the same group of animals that include starfish, sand dollars, and sea urchins do.  This phylum is the echinoderms, and it contains some of the most bizarre and interesting organisms you could expect to find.   One of their wonderful features is the ability to regenerate lost body parts.  In the sea cucumber this is often related to it being attacked.  The animal will eviscerate its internal organs, w...

Horsefly photographed from the side using bellows and reversed 50 mm lens. The horsefly, nature's prototype sewing machine, is the bane of all who venture outdoors during the summer.  As true flies, they have a life cycle which goes from egg to larvae (maggot) to pupa to adult.  It is the adults you are familiar with.  Like mosquitoes, the females are the ones which do the biting.  They draw on a blood supply from mostly mammals, but there are species which will attack birds or even reptiles.  When not dining on flesh, they and their male counterparts are busy visiting flowers consuming the sugary nectar to sustain their energy.  Some may parasitize plants and suck their juices. Horseflies lay eggs in the late summer, after participating in Dracula's pastime and having mated with the non-parasitic males.  The eggs are laid in a raft like structure on a plant suspended above the water.  The newly hatched larvae fall into the pond or stream and...