Zane's Photo Blog

All & sundry - collections

2011-08-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

Photography is addictive and I have found out that attending various events really eats into one's available time, and then the editing of the images remains a priority.

Found a gecko which was no longer than a matchbox and took a few macro images - one of the gecko licking its eye, and another with an orange background with some starry / circular bokeh.

A few days later another gecko photo opportunity presented itself and I was fortunate to get the microscopic dew on and around the eye in the image.

Avian / bird photography - often these opportunities present themselves at events so one presses the shutter button and views the images later. Grey headed heron - head shot.

While taking surfing photos this grey headed gull ambled around on the sand and then drank some seawater.

Random images from Scribante - Friday 5 August and Saturday 6 August 2011. Exciting racing with plenty crashes. Single-seater class.

Production cars - Audi sliding through a corner in the wet.

Motorcycles - the action is always fast and motorcycle racing is exciting (and noisy).

Formula VW - these single-seaters are faster than the motorcycles around the track and achieve speeds of around 300 kilometres per hour. Lens used here was a Canon 400 f2.8 with a Teleconverter 2x - focal length 800mm.

Strange green worm that I found - size about 6mm total length. Looks like a scrubbing brush.

Slipped this boogey boarder image in - looks like a snowman to me.

Unidentified crab spider (male) - this image is from the November archives. I regard this is as the most hideous spider i have photographed. Size is maybe 3mm and it hitched a ride on my camera strap. My initial thoughts were that it was a tick, but closer inspection through a macro lens revealed that it was a crab spider. The spider has numerous bumps on its legs and body and these bumps reflect light giving it a 'sparkling" appearance.

Unidentified worm / caterpillar - interesting colouration. I have no idea what it might morph into.

Macro image of the moss that grows between the paving stones. I will re-take this image or similar once the moss is in bloom and the buds open. Spring is almost here.

Thank you for visiting. Comments are always appreciated.

Click on an image to enlarge.

Centipede, Lizard, Birds - Heron, Burchells Coucal, Lapwings and other

2011-07-18T14:13:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest photo gallery. I have taken a few bird photographs of late (while the bugs are in their winter slumber). The eastern cape area of South Africa is home to a diverse bird population - I have only scratched the surface with the images posted here and will look for other species to photograph. Avian/bird photography is new to me and I learn as I go along.

Blue-bellied (throated) lizard - I am really not sure of the scientific or correct name. These lizards lie on the rocks at the sea and seem to enjoy warm weather.

Stone Centipede - macro of its head and jaws.

Stone centipede - tape measure for size.

Common Emperor Moth.

Black Headed Heron - take off.

Burchells Coucal - was fortunate to find this bird sitting in the open as they are shy and reclusive and hide in the undergrowth. The bird is also called a Rainbird.

Crowned Lapwing (Plover).

Blacksmith Lapwing (Plover).

Bokmakierie - this bird has a beautiful call which the reference books refer to as variable. This photograph was taken of the bird as it perched/stood on top of my garage roof.

African Red-Eyed Bulbul - feeds on fruit, nectar and insects and is often found near water.

Red-Throated Wryneck.

Olive Thrush.

Please click on a photograph to enlarge.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Insect mimicry, brown button spider, worms, gecko foot and others

2011-06-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

Action photography including surfing, karting, motorcycles and cars is the exciting new direction that I currently follow. Bugs and macro photography somehow finds a suitable place in the busy schedule of life.

This is an ant mimic spider. The first image is for illustration purposes and the spider resembles an ant. The spider uses a pair of legs to resemble or mimic the ant's feelers/antennae. A giveaway (that it is an ant) may be the spinnerets at the hind end of the abdomen.

The second and third images show the spiders fangs and its large eyes (8 in total with the anteria median eyes being oversized). The flash "blew" out the eyes and they should be glassy smooth. Magnification was 7 times so it is never easy to get the perfect image. The spider webs are not visible to the naked eye.

Leaf mimic fly - I did find a reference to this fly on the internet, but lost my bookmark with the pc crashing. The wings / colouration (patchy brown and opaque and also translucent) assist the fly to blend in. Size of the fly - very small maybe 3 to 4mm head to tail.

Brown button spider - latrodectus geometricus - missing two front legs. Beautiful spider, but venomous.

Orange-eyed leafhopper - used maximum magnification to get the eye in focus to display the segments - downside was the blue hue that resulted. The leafhopper has a dark blue (almost black) thorax and body - I believe the blue hue came from the flash reflecting/bouncing off the side of the leaf on the right. These leafhoppers can jump - not quite a far as a flea, but I would estimate 1 metre as a fair distance. Size of the leafhopper - 3mm approx.

I had a bit of time and did some processing of the image - took a photo of this painted lady (butterfly) [Cynthia cardui] on the protected dunes at the beach. Sand and pollen grains were blowing around (see background). I drained the background colour (changed to black and white) and left the butterfly and flower in colour.

Parathiscia - so difficult to get this bug into focus all over due to the size and undulations on its wings.

The foot of a baby gecko - total length including tail - less than normal matchbox.

Jumping spider (5mm) on a ruler.

Common yellow garden weed - up close - and with a little creative licence to remove some of the "excessive yellow".

One does come across weird bugs from time to time. Here is "sweetpea" who looks kind of like a dried out peanut shell.

Sweetpea emerges from its shell.

The terrible worm with a shell on it back heads off to terrorise some other macro photographer.

Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting.

Click an image to enlarge.

Bugs, spiders, ants, worms, wasps and other images - Harley Davidson

2011-06-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

Well here is the latest edition to the blog - quite a few bug and crawler images plus a few motorbike images which I took at the Day of the Clubs. The Day of the Clubs was organised by Dolphin Motorcycle Club, Tarmac Teasers and Justice Riders. The venue was the Aldo Scribante circuit - date 21 May 2011.

The late Theeru Moodley's Harley - "Screamin Eagle".

Other Harley Davidson motorcycles.

Father and son sharing a moment. I have not done a sepia or black and white conversion. If you are the biker in the image contact me please. The image should make a decent A0 poster (1metre x .8metre plus a bit).

There are many other photographs from the Day of the Clubs - drag racing, wheelies, burnouts etc which I have posted on my Weebly site.

Anyone who is looking for a free and easy to operate website platform have a look at www.weebly.com

My weebly address is: http://zanesphotojournal.weebly.com

Macro of an ant approaching over a leaf.

Macro of the ant quenching its thirst.

Port Elizabeth has had an incredible amount of rain in the past few days. The excess water has driven the earthworms out of the ground and this small earthworm was crawling on a walkway. I always wondered if an earthworm has eyes. Seems as though it has one large membrane which resembles an eye - see the white rounded area at the tip of the worm.

Flat wall spider - it must be a male - judging by the enlarged pedipalps. These spiders normally flatten themselves against a surface, but this spider seemed to elevate itself off its belly. The fangs appear to have been injured - might have been in combat with another spider or possibly due to mating season - as a display to attract females.

Stink bug - unfortunately it did not have a bubble at the end of the proboscis. Next time.

A tiny tree frog - I took this image in windy conditions - exposure was not ideal, but I will have another chance at some point.

Tiny green worm - this worm is extremely thin and small - I guess 3 or 4mm total length. It is light enough to be carried by the wind and I noticed 2 other worms (dangling from silk threads) which were using the wind to move them to another location. Identity unknown - anyone have any idea?

A tiny wasp - two photographs taken from slightly different angles of the same wasp.

A ground bug - scantius forsteri - this one came out after some rain. It probably was not too thirsty.

Thank you for visiting my blog. A special thanks to those who comment or visit.

Please click on any image to enlarge.

Dragonfly hatchling, tiger moth, worm and some motor racing

2011-05-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

My computer collapsed - blown motherboard and power supply. So a new machine, plenty reloading and I am back to update the blog.

Note that the insects / bugs photographed and displayed here were not harmed, frozen or pinned. All bugs live(d) to tell the tale of the giant eye and bright light that watched them.

Dragonfly that had hatched from the nymph - empty exoskeleton is called an exuvia. Note the green moss / algae on both dragonfly and nymph.

Dragonfly wings - close up.

Dragonfly wings - macro.

Dragonfly tail section.

I found a Tri-coloured tiger moth and startled it. The moth displayed its bright orange abdomen and raised its wings to scare of attackers. It landed on the grass and went into defensive mode, then eventually settled down.

Here are some photographs of a worm that I cannot identify. I rarely see any bug eating the leaves of a ficus tree/plant. It is a beautiful worm, but also so ugly. I have heard of people that keep the worm alive until it spins a cocoon, then becomes a pupa and emerges as a butterfly or moth. Then they identify the worm by what emerges from the cocoon. Well I let the worm be - probably was eaten by a bird - it was gone the following day.

Macro of the worm's hair follicles.

Macro of the worm's foot.

Macro shot of the mandibles and mouth parts.

Motor racing - Port Elizabeth - Scribante Race Track - 30 April 2011 - Wesbank Superseries.

I went to get photographs of flames from the side exhausts of the V8's and was delighted with the results.

Greg Gildenhuys on a BMW 1000RR.

Robert Portman - Triumph 575.

Remember to click to enlarge an image.

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Birds, bats, mantids, wasps, spiders, surfing and more

2011-04-18T05:17:00.000-07:00

Various photographic opportunities have presented themselves to me and I find myself "forced" to explore. Here are some of the results of my efforts with storylines where appropriate.

Remember: Click on an image to enlarge the photograph.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Juvenile mantid with strange eye colouration. This mantid was about 5mm from head to end of tail, and was one of many "babies" that were around in my garden.

An older photograph of a robber fly. Decided to post it at some time or another - taken around midday in summer - no flash required in the glaring sun.

Tiphiid wasp - harmless wasps these - features ... very hairy and long antenna.

Surfing photography - second session down at the Pipe with decent sized swell 4 to 6 foot (per the weather websites). Bruce Campbell doing some nifty slashing move off the lip.

Another jumping spider - taken last year - this spider would not stop following the lens and the more I moved away the more it pursued the lens. Suppose spiders are curious or they think the reflection is a mate. This is not the best image, but it was fun running (or crawling away from the spider) - knee guards are a must!

Jackal buzzard - low level swooping.

A bat flew into the bedroom so I spent some time taken photographs before it eventually flew out. Not the best images either, but immensely fun at 4 o'clock (or thereabouts) in the morning. The bat must be the most difficult creature to capture on digital format due to its erratic flight paths.

Southern double-collared sunbird.

Dejeania fly - photograph of the spiky abdomen and then a photograph of the entire fly (minus a wing tip which I did not include when capturing the image - my mistake).

A slow move from macro

2011-04-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

A long overdue photo post - sorry!

Emperor moth - macro of the spot on a wing

The eye of a chameleon - macro.

Flexifoil kiteflyer - taken at Sardinia Bay at lunchtime - ideally more clouds would make this more dramatic.

Hanging fly (some refer to this fly as a crane fly) - head shot between its gangly legs.

Ye olde rain spider - spiders are amazing creatures. I still ponder how they manage to move 8 legs at once or co-ordinate their movement. I managed to get in close to photograph the joints where the legs meet the thorax.

The same rain spider rearing up. I was a little disappointed as this spider had a lot of sand on its body and head. The macro photos of the head and eyes are reasonable, but not ideal due to the sand grains so I have not posted them.

Tiny fly 3mm with mist bubbles on its wings and head

Wasp - delta hottentottum. Well I almost felt how this wasp stings, but somehow managed to avoid being stung. Wish I could find more of these or similar to photograph.

Tetragnatha - long jawed water spider. These photographs were taken at approximately 9pm and I used a flash in the darkness.

Action photography - there was an interprovincial track cycling meeting at the Westbourne Oval. I really like the action sport photography. The effect in this photo is called panning. Focus on a subject, follow it, photograph while moving the camera along with the subjects. Background or other objects is blurred intentionally. What happened in the race - the black and red rider moved up the inside and I focussed on the rider and followed. The photograph represents a moment in the race where the black and red rider caught the others by surprise and moved ahead up the inside of the track.

Remember: Click any photograph to enlarge.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. Comments appreciated.

Diverse collection of recent photographs

2011-03-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

Wow time flies when one has fun. I am broadening my photographic horizons and will try to photograph whatever is available. A preference for faster sport or action sport currently exists.

"All Smiles" - I spent an hour or so diving in Algoa Bay. Hoards of kids who must have been on a social outing swarmed me as I unloaded my car. It was a stampede and I got irritated so drew out the underwater camera in the hope of scaring them off. Result was not quite as expected. All smiles was all I got and they moved in closer. I have entered this image into an online competition. Interesting point - the camera I used was the Olympus camera in underwater housing.

Butterflies are not prolific in my garden. Found this blue pansy. I have spent no time on the edit to get the colours true - did not use a macro lens here - had to make do with 100-400mm lens.

Cape batis - very friendly and a beautiful bird. Size is tiny - small sparrow or smaller.

Praying mantid - I normally ignore these creatures as they are quite common. The colours on this mantids eye caught my attention, so here is the result.

A different view of the mantid - depth of field exercise to try to have as much in focus as possible.

A red dragonfly - my title for the image "Dragonfly dance" - 100-400mm was the lens I had with me at the time, so no macro shot. Background blurred with the lens to isolate the subject.

My entry into a competition with the topic "Windows". This image was captured with a macro lens - it is the reflection of a meranti window in a pair of cheap blue-glass sunglasses. The sunglass lens created a unique smooth blue-tungsten and deep orange/brown wood effect and filled in the clear glass with a blue colour. I did not feature with this image.

A few surfing photographs taken at Port Elizabeth;s very own "Pipe" in Summerstrand. Not my best efforts, and taken around midday with the sun from the left and front on. Only time I had free so I took a chance.

The moon 14 March 2011 - I hear it is called a "supermoon" - mmm.

Remember to click photographs to enlarge.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Macro, MotoX and Karting

2011-02-28T13:01:00.000-08:00

Silver striped hawk moth (Vine hawk moth). This moth flew into my study as I worked on the computer. The orange circular patch near its head appears to be an injury - probably flew into a wall or window.

3mm fly (very small from head to tail) with mist droplets on its head. This was one of my entries into a photo competition with a topic "bubbles" - seems as the judges wanted soap bubbles not macro fly bubbles - good learning experience - nothing like competition.

The second of my two entries into the competition - this one a little more topic related. Judges awarded a "HC" highly commendable (or is it highly critical). It is a small soap bubble captured with a macro lens. The bubble was at rest against the thorn and it appears as though the bubble is pierced by the thorn. Other aspects to consider the misty pink background and the light and dark background that divides the bubble into two. Various reflections in the bubble - the small dried lemon tree twig is also recreated. An enjoyable competition. Very limited post processing allowed - so there are no layers, masks or any other photoshop or editing tricks at work here.

MotoX action - had limited time in the red dust at the track. Photograph of one of the junior riders - Storm.

Karting - South African National Karting round was held in Port Elizabeth.

Photograph of Ayrton Good (taken early in the day)

Photograph of a lady karter - Fabienne Lanz

Junior Rok Class - Luke Herring - I never saw the official results, but believe he won his class.

Junior Rok Class - the start

A brief respite from the racing and I captured a corner on the track - tried to make the image a little "arty".

A fire ant - I used a cover of a local photography magazine to bounce the flash off - the ant was under a dead plant - red / hot effect was the result. I could not find another way to get light to the object so chose the deflected red light.

Remember: Click photographs to enlarge.

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Bubble blowing insects - macro exploration

2011-02-19T23:51:00.000-08:00

A few notes of appreciation and thank you's:

- George has advised that he believes the identification of a tiny worm in a tube is a casemaking clothes moth (Tinea pellionella). Here is the link. http://zanephotoblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/open-sky-port-elizabeth-weird-bug.html

- Peter, Magda, Firefly (Jonker) and others for commenting and making this blog interesting. It is one thing to find and photograph insects, but to share the images and receive positive feedback is another. Makes it all worthwhile.

- Elettra - for some interesting aspects and photographs of European life. You may require google to translate. -http://elettra-admaiora.blogspot.com/

- Sciarada see the link http://animamundi-sciarada.blogspot.com/ for some interesting aspects and photographs of European life. You may require google to translate.

Many insects display bubble blowing characteristics. Flies are probably one of the more common insect bubble blowers. I am not always sure if the insect is eating or blowing a bubble. I have seen ants eat / drink nectar or water on leaves and then proceed to blow a bubble. Simon has advised that it is a mechanism to aid digestion as the oxygen in the bubble is absorbed.

This ant had drank liquid from a leaf and I was on hand to capture the bubble being formed. A dead flash or almost dead batteries almost prevented me form getting this and another 2 images.

Simon is the butterfly expert. I do not see too many butterflies, but when an opportunity presents itself I will take the photo. See Simon's link at Afromacro http://afromacro.wordpress.com/

Here is a meadow white butterfly (pontia helice)

I have avoided posting spiders where I could. Too many on the harddrive now. This tiny jumping spider has a beautiful upper abdomen and posed for me. Size was about 4mm from top of head to end of abdomen.

A green lacewing - I have included this photograph as this lacewing has this luminous yellow streak running from its head towards its abdomen. Not sure why - anyone have the answer?

Bubble blowing wasp - a really tiny wasp - also 4 or 5mm long from head to end of tail. I have been told by Sean at http://www.vuurvliegie.net that it could be a sawfly (sawflies, bees, wasps and ants all belong to a larger order Hymenoptera). This sawfly was so tiny I almost it, but the tiny glistening bubble gave it away and drew my attention.

Tiphiid wasp - excuse the blurred head - I have included this to illustrate the long antennae on these very docile wasps.

Remember to click any photograph to enlarge.

Bumper Macro Post

2011-02-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

I have added a diverse selection of macro images due to my lack of blog posts in the last two weeks.

I would like to make special mention of a message / comment that I received from M - from Australia. The content and sincerity of your comment is much appreciated. Australia and its people currently endure terrible climatic conditions and M has covered the current weather situation and Cyclone Yasi's approach with a blogpost of 3 February 2011. Here is the link.

http://feelingsshared.blogspot.com/

There is a link to A Snails Eye View on the blog - Snail being situated in North Queensland which is right in the path of the cyclone. http://snailseyeview.blogspot.com I really need to spend some time on these two blogs - diverse animal life, bugs, frogs etc.

Positive thoughts to our Australian friends.

Common geranium bronze butterfly - I still think it is a common blue (due to blue colours on top/upper parts of wings and abdomen).

Daddy long legs spider - carrying what appears to be a mole (actually some kind of bug in the web sack)

Dragonfly - macro head shot

Tiny leafhopper - front on shot - definitely one of my favourite macro images.

Brown lynx spider with warpaint-like mask. I have added a tighter crop as a second image. Lynx spiders are such interesting spiders - fast, excellent climbers, excellent jumpers and the spines on the legs are so pronounced.

Unknown bug - I have never seen this type of bug before. Found another 2 which are similar (but which do not have the yellow stripe separating the abdomen from thorax. The other two have yellow spots (two lumps) on the upper abdomen (where this bug has the two blue/red lumps on its upper abdomen). Any ideas as to identification?

Ichneumonid wasp - angled shot.

Sugar granule / crystal. I was fiddling with a new flash setup and had an extreme macro diopter [Raynox MSN202] on the Panasonic. I definitely did not get the lighting right, but was alarmed to see this black foreign body in the sugar crystal. Note this is an ordinary white sugar crystal which I randomly selected from our sugar bowl, it is not oversized. It was number 3 or 4 in the lineup, but the black "hair" caught my attention when magnifying. Anyone out there have any idea what this foreign body is? I will sample another 10 crystals at some point. Should I find a similar foreign body then I will be forced to question the producers and request an explanation. At this point I attribute the presence of the foreign body as merely one dirty grain among 10 000. I read somewhere that white sugar is called white death - mmmm - may be truth in that statement somewhere. Note that this foreign body is microscopic and not visible to the naked eye and something this small should not pose any problem for the human digestive system. I did make sure to include the reflection - just in case someone claims the image was photoshopped to include the black "hair".

Remember: Click any image to enlarge.

Comments always welcome and appreciated.

Spiders, wasps and bugs - macro mode

2011-01-18T11:49:00.000-08:00

I have tried a few different techniques lately and have played with silhouettes for other effects.

Cotton stainer bug silhouette.

Ichneumonid wasp silhouette.

Crab spider with ornate patterns.

White and brown camouflaged crab spider.

Stinkbug with water droplet. I did state previously that I would try to photograph the round water droplet. Only problem here was that I have the drop in perfect focus, but could not get enough depth of field (DOF) to include the eye and side of the bug in the area of focus. With macro the slightest error is magnified. Not an ideal photo, but one that illustrates the droplet at the end of the long proboscis.

Tiphiid wasp - head shot.

Tiphiid wasp - side on. Note the lovely hair and patterns that the hair forms. These are beautiful wasps, reasonable calm and docile. Size - about 8mm head to end of tail (excluding antenna).

Ichneumonid wasp - size - a few millimetres - note the fur coat.

Butterfly - slurp. These are tiny butterflies - a common blue is its name. Size is about the size of a nail on the small finger (pinkie). 5mm to 10mm possibly diameter including wings. This photo is one of a sequence of 8 photos with the tongue rolled out, in, into this curly shape, fully extended etc. I did not use a flash when taking this photograph, but should have. I think the result may have been more detailed and the colours better.

Remember: Click any photograph for an enlarged version.

Please support the people listed on the right as followers. Many of them have wonderful websites and share similar interests - nature, bugs, the outdoors. The blogs on the blogroll are also worth visiting.

A New Year - lynx spider, bee wolf, carpenter ant, green midge, fishing spider, others

2011-01-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all of my blog followers and to those who view and comment. The support is greatly appreciated. May your year be filled with joy, prosperity and may all of your objectives be met.

Remember to click any photograph if you wish to see a larger version.

Golden lynx spider (Oxyopes jacksoni) - finally after much searching I have found and photographed one of these beautiful spiders. I have included 4 photographs (because I am allowed to).

Bee wolf (wasp) (Philanthus triangulum)- I have a spot that I watch almost daily and the bee wolf always sits out of photographic reach. Finally managed to find it sitting in a good spot (after about a years waiting) and took the pictures. These are beautiful wasps with yellow abdomens and a triangular yellow pattern on the upper thorax.

Spiky carpenter ant - I have seen so many different ant types right here in my own surroundings. The creatures are so often ignored, but often provide the ideal macro photograph opportunity.

A tiny green midge - it appears to be nibbling on its foot. I noticed that it looked like Jim Carey - The Mask - so have included a rather grainy enlargement for easier viewing. Who said macro photography cannot be fun!

Fishing spider (Thalassinae spinosissimus)- this spider was most definitely one of the most challenging to get a decent photograph of. The spider is so beautifully camouflaged, has spikes on its legs and has unique abilities. The impressive looking spider has bright white borders and markings. It hunts and lives near water with side vegetation. It is able to drift and walks on water. Food includes small crustaceans, tadpoles and small fish.

The spider uses air which is encases itself with to breathe and it has a silvery sheen when submerged. I took this photograph from the surface and the silvery areas (especially around the eyes and thorax area) are the air bubble / pocket. The spider is submerged in this photograph. An enlarged view should provide more detail - so click the photograph.

I used my Olympus camera in its 40 metre underwater-rated case (in macro mode) to capture a rather murky image of the spider submerged, but perched on a rock at about 10 centimetres below the surface. Apologies for the quality, but one cannot have clean water all of the time. I noticed it swims while submerged too, but no photographs to show this unfortunately.

More bugs from the macro world that surrounds us

2010-12-20T04:08:00.000-08:00

I have been asked where I get the macro subjects. The answer is that most of them are right in my yard and similar bugs probably frequent your yards too.

Juvenile horsefly - taken in poor light with flash at about 7pm and then it started to drizzle / was misty. Vapour droplet on the eye - most fortunate. This insect was about 10mm long (maybe slightly smaller) - head to end of tail. Note that it is a fly and not a wasp.

Green lacewing - macro of the head area plus a full body shot. Size about 6mm long head to end of tail - with wings a little longer.

Small cricket hunter wasp - Chlorion maxillosum. Size about 10mm head to end of tail. Included is a photo showing the white segments on its antennae in more detail.

White crab spider on arum lily.

Some kind of bug - I took the photograph in a makeshift macro lightbox with a pink/mauve background. Really do not like the pink/mauve background, but the bugs colours are pleasing enough. Too lazy to look up the identification (I am on holiday). Any ideas?

Bark bug - not sure what to say here - it has 6 legs and attractive pulpy tomato coloured eyes. These bugs and stink bugs often extend the proboscis downwards and blow a bubble of water/liquid which is then suspended held on the end of the proboscis. I missed an opportunity (blurred the photo) a while back of this process. Will however try to photograph the bubble blowing again, when I find the right thirsty old bug.

Fiery moth. Macro of eye / head area and the moth on the grass. This moth mimics a dead leaf. I was not able to identify the moth from my reference books. Any ideas?

Remember to click to enlarge a photograph.

Thanks to those who have joined as followers and special thanks to those who comment. Suppose I just do my bit to try to display some of the macro world - a world that is not visible to human eyes except with the help of a lens or two.

Cape Robin, Sombre Bulbul, Spiders, Wasp and Bee Mimic Fly

2010-12-09T12:23:00.000-08:00

Avian or bird photography seems to have a huge following on the internet. Websites like www.outdoorphoto.co.za and www.pixmag.co.za have very active forums / photo posting pages where many South Africans post their bird photographs.

My bird photography collection is small, but will grow over time (once I reduce the time I spend on the bugs).
Cape Robin. Took this photo at the top of Settlers Park. Camera Canon 7D + Canon 100-400 L IS USM lens.

Sombre bulbul - hungry chicks and mother in background. I took this photograph from about 3 metres of the nest which was about 5 to 6 foot above the ground. I understand that there are ethics in wildlife and avian photography so did not venture any closer. I came across the nest as I walked past a tall evergreen and had the camera in hand so managed to get the photo and a few others.

Yellow crab spider ready to strike. I took this photograph a few months ago and have deliberated its worth. You decide. The photograph was taken in bright sunlight (midday) and the black background is similar to what one may expect when using flash in a home studio. This photograph was most definitely taken outside on a yellow flower.

Long-spinnered bark spider. It derives it name from the long spinnerets at the end of its abdomen (not visible in this photograph). The spinnerets are the gland from which the silky web is secreted. The spider has lovely markings and the hairs add to the camouflage.

An old favourite of mine - the paper wasp. This is the up close and personal version.

Eyes of the bee mimic fly - lots of these flies around at the moment.

Remember: Click image to enlarge.

Mosquito, Harvard, Silver Falcon, Proboscis, Mothfly and others

2010-11-28T12:17:00.000-08:00

Bush mosquito - I decided to let this speckled predator draw some blood from my foot. Note the red-coloured tube with the extra appendage connected - when I looked at the photograph I thought it was a leg, but there are 6 legs in clear view. Wonders of nature - probably some kind of vacuum tube to assist the swift extraction of human blood. Note that one of my reference books says that one has to be careful when the mosquito that "bites" you points its tail downwards (when drinking) - most keep their tails horizontal. Ummm - the one embedded in my foot happens to have its tail pointing away from horizontal.

A Harvard from the Port Elizabeth airshow a few weeks ago.

Silver Falcon from the Port Elizabeth airshow a few weeks ago.

Fly proboscis (or tongue for lack of a better word for the appendage). I used a Raynox MSN202 lens for this - with flash. Extremely powerful lens (diopter) which has magnification range of 1 to 20 times (which can be extended to 36 times). Problem was that the fly's head obscured the light from the flash (the proboscis is under the chin). Magnification used was approximately 16 times and the major restriction is light. How does one focus in the dark. Flash only provides light for a brief moment and one has to have the focus set when the shutter is released and the flash triggers.

Mothfly. These furry moths/flies are tiny, but with beautiful detail on the wings and a very furry thorax.

The eye of a lizard (skink) with my reflection in the eye.

Thank you to those who visit and also to those who comment. I will always try to reciprocate.

Remember: Click on any photo to enlarge.

The story of an ant, a bug, a plane and ummm .....

2010-11-21T12:55:00.000-08:00

I currently suffer from photo editing blues - too many photographs (some rejects, some I wish to keep).

This batch features an ant drinking water with its own reflection in the water. The magnification was 7 times and I have applied a minor crop to the photo.

Parathiscia bug - photo taken with a dying flash (batteries were overused on some other subject). The bug is resting on an old t-shirt (black), it is not a jersey.

Tiny praying mantis. My special bush has produced a set of baby mantii (is there such a word). I saw 4 of these babies on the bush. Size (about 5 mm) at a guess. How do I know they are juvenile? - the upward curved abdomen is one indication (per the reference books).

Red bulb eye fly (alophora) - size (total length) 2mm - this is most definitely the smallest living organism with compound eyes that I have tried to photograph (hope I have not forgotten some other subject that I took a macro photo of). I am not entirely pleased with the result, but when one works with the magnification from 10 to 20 times it can be a lottery. DOF (depth of field) is shallow - very shallow and any part of the subject outside of the parallel zone of .5 of a millimetre is not sharp / blurred. I will try again with this type of fly - when the wind is not blowing and the sun shining.

Juvenile hanging fly - looks like a mosquito, but it is not - it is a little smaller and does not suck blood. These flies seem to prefer the heat / glow of a lightbulb. I crawled along the ceiling to the light to get this shot - upside down. I did use a flash.

A yellow eyed and yellow footed dove - any comments on the identification will be appreciated.

Thanks for the comments - they are most welcome and appreciated. Click on any photograph to enlarge.

Red eye fly macro, tiny weevil macro, mantidfly & ichneumonid wasp

2010-11-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

Common red-eyed fly - had fun with the macro - changed silver colours to light sepia to focus attention on the bulbous red eyes.

Mantidfly - I am told that this it is fairly rare to encounter these insects. Half dragonfly / half praying mantis / and some other bugs all in one. It has not been photoshopped and this is a real-life bug. Note the praying mantis type forearms and the clear segmented dragon fly-type wings.

Tiny weevil with pink background.

Ichneumonid wasp - its large dark eyes posed a real problem in the poor light.

Thanks for the comments - and visits to my blog.

Remember: Click to enlarge any photograph.

Robber Fly macros & P51 Mustang (Port Elizabeth Airshow)

2010-11-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

Had the good fortune to run into a robber fly and I had a camera in hand. This fly was very much alive and flew off and landed nearby, so I could resume the photo session. Camera: Panasonic DMC FZ50 + Raynox DCR250 - no flash.

Just a note or two on macro photography:
Proximity - Jonker (aka Firefly) enquired how I get so close to bugs and spiders. Most macro photos are taken from 6 to 10mm from the front of the lens to the subject. By moving slowly and smoothly one can normally get close to the subject. Jumping spiders seem to be attracted to the lens anyway and will gladly face into the lens. Be patient. Note that the Raynox DCR250 lens/diopter is super powerful with 1 to 7 times magnification. I have added a Raynox MSN202 lens/diopter [1 to 20 times magnification] to my camera bag too, but have not found a subject of interest to photograph with the lens yet.
Bug cooling - it is inhumane to put bugs in the fridge or deepfreeze for a few minutes to slow them down. Besides they are also not human (so it cannot be inhumane - but it is not right either - my opinion), but still what if they escape and crawl around in the fridge or deepfreeze. I have read of people using cooling techniques to retard spider and bug movement - I do not subscribe to the practice, and never will.

Port Elizabeth Airshow 30 October 2010
I was there, barefoot on the thorny ground, standing outside the fence, near the end of the runway. Camera and lens of choice: Canon 7D + Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L IS USM. I did not pay to enter as there was way too much traffic by the time I arrived, so I chose to stand outside the fence.

From my vantage point I saw the P51 Mustang and took a few photographs. The noise of the P51's engine (Rolls Royce Merlin - I believe) was thrilling and the spectators were amazed at the maneuvers that pilot George Perez performed with the P51. Not sure why, but the plane also emitted shrieking noises at times - possibly wind in the bottom scoop at high speed.

The P51 Mustang is a beautiful warbird dating to the 1940's. I saw on the TV interview with the pilot, where the pilot stated that he flies the plane with the original instrumentation.

I did not spend enough time at the airshow as I had other commitments - will look at some other photographs to post. This is not an event to be missed, and I plan to spend the whole day at the next airshow.

Thanks to those who commented on previous posts. It is much appreciated.

Remember to click on a photograph to enlarge.

Unpacking the harddrive - Flies, butterflies & the odd spider

2010-10-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

Stalk eyed crab spider - this odd / strange looking spider was missing one front leg. I did not pluck it off. Total size 5 to 10mm end to end. The eyes on the sides are in tubes (bazookas) and a pair of eyes has one front and one rear facing eye.

Hairy field spider - has green tones in its colouration - probably lives in the shade too much.

Ant mimic spiders - the males have long jaws which open like a pair of pliers. I happened to walk past a delicious monster in my garden and I recall hearing a hissing noise (no not actually). Two male spiders occupied the same leaf space and the fight was on. These spiders resemble ants, but are most definitely spiders - 8 legs / 8 eyes, spin web with silk. I managed to take a few photos of the fight and the loser was thrown off the leaf by the victor (the loser landed on my bare leg as I lay under the leaf with my camera). The loser limped away into the undergrowth. Apologies for the photo quality - but the "action macro genre" is incredibly difficult considering the angle of light (almost straight into the lens), the size of the fighters 5mm to 10mm and my position.

Scorpion spider - harmless - well please volunteer to let this spider bite you - we can test the theory regarding it being venomous or not. Any volunteers? The photos were taken from a distance of 6 to 10 centimetres - makes photography interesting.

Some fly macros - my reference books refers to this fly as a copper tailed blowfly. Lovely colours on this fly and it has such lovely eyes. Note the hairs on the proboscis and the clawed foot.

Mayfly - this mayfly arched itself nicely between the leaves and posed for the macro. The long tail (with two split pieces) can make the mayfly a difficult fly to photograph.

Tiny metallic green and yellow "fruitfly".

A zeppelin fly - I managed this one shot before the zep took off. I still am puzzled as to how it managed to fly. Apologies for the blurred head - my focus was most definitely on the bulbous abdomen.

Not the best photo either - I will get another opportunity soon - fly blowing a yellow bubble or "gob ball" - disgusting!

Common blue butterflies - really small - about the size of a fingernail 5mm to 10mm maximum.

Common white butterfly - I use the Canon 100-400 lens for this and a crop.

Thanks to those who commented on previous posts - appreciate the effort.

Remember to click photographs to enlarge as these small version photographs may not reveal all of the details.

Random images from the macro world & beyond (well not quite)

2010-10-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

Too many images, too little time. Need a holiday to catch up with the blog.

Please click images to enlarge.

Flowers and plants - if you have paving and you look in the grooves between the paving stones you will see moss growing. This a landscape of the moss with sprouts that can be found between the paving stones. I added a border and did the crop as a landscape.

Hermannia althaeoides- very small - found it in my 1966 reference book after much searching.

"Gousblom" or "African Daisy" (Dimorphotheca). ***

Ruschia (a small shrubby succulent) found near the sea. ***

*** Flower identification - thanks to Etwin - a true botanist.

Metallic longhorn beetle - 1st image for identification - note that these beetles do give off a "sweet" scent if alarmed.

Metallic longhorn beetle - head / mandibles and body "armour" - macro.

Ugly fly with red eyes - 1st image for identification.

Ugly fly with red eyes - macro.

Dragonfly on a stick.

Dragonfly eyes - macro.

Bird / Avian photography - new form of photography for me. Canon 7D with Canon 100-400 L IS USM lens used to take these photographs.

Cormorant - I think.

Giant Heron / Stork - any identification tips or comments welcome.

An ant drinking some water/condensate on a leaf.

Random images - spiders

2010-10-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

The content of this post is a variety of spider photographs that I have taken. Pictures are better than words - spider photography becomes more interesting as one progresses.

Ogre faced spider.

Forest funnel web spider.

False house button spider.

Green red crab spider - identity unknown - I would appreciate a positive identification.

The sun always shines on TV - the AHA pop song from the 1980's. The name seemed to suit my spider as it gazed into the sunset. Pink Floyd fans would be forgiven for thinking it is "Two Suns on the Sunset" - the glowing fireball of a nuclear explosion.

Sac spider (I think) - note the chevron pattern on the abdomen.

"Bandit" jumping spider.

Large crab spider - a beautiful spider - almost laid eggs on my face as I photographed a smaller version or relative on another flower.

An over-sized jumping spider. A small spider, but with an oversized abdomen - not sure if this is the result of carrying baby spiders which are due to be born or the result of a rather succulent and filling meal (over the past months.)

Remember to click on any photograph to enlarge.

Wasps - Moths - Armoured Ground Crickets - Bee Mimic Fly - Other

2010-09-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

Quick upload of some insect photographs that I took recently - when the wind was not blowing hurricane force.

Ichneumonid wasp.

Bee mimic fly with the striped eyes. These are plentiful - must be spring.

Armoured ground cricket - head to end of tail 5mm at most. This bug had a bad attitude. First time that I have seen one of these.

Plume moths - took these photographs a while back. Forgot to post them.

Paper wasps - some macros of the vicious bugs. Lucky not to get the stinger here - at times my fingers were within a centimetre or two of this wasp.

Remember: Click photograph to enlarge.

Lucky packet #2 - zebra, butterflies, dragonflies, stick mantis & a spider

2010-09-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

I have not been the ideal blogger of late - work commitments, no diving, over the flu and a new camera and lenses added. If you would like to be added to my bloglist please send me a comment. I will do my best to add your link.

Thank you to all those who commented on previous blog posts. Much appreciated.

I have a Canon 7d now, with EF 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens and EF 50mm f1.4 plus a new sturdy tripod - Vanguard - the tripod with the unique angles etc. Just need some good weather to make real use of the equipment.

I think that I have migrated from a point and shooter to something else. I am never trying to take a photo for the sake of having a picture of the subject. With macro, there seems to be an element of art required, so I try to provide pleasing backgrounds (appealing bokeh) and am really not trying to photographically document every living organism in my region.

Note: These photographs were all taken with the Panasonic DMC FZ50 (and Raynox DCR250 lens - if macro). I did not have lenses for the 7d when I went away to Cradock this last weekend.

Ok - enough waffle - photograph time. I was in Cradock (250 kilometres north of Port Elizabeth) and we made the trip to the Mountain Zebra National Park. Mt first visit there. I was never a "birder" or "game watcher", but this game park is huge, has a diversity of wildlife and has elevation (drive along plateau or in valleys / flatlands).

My 4 (almost 5) year old daughter loves photography and she wanted to photograph the zebras. Here is her picture - my impression - she is talented. Rule of thirds, eye contact, and a little drama. Ok I did tell her to wait for the zebra to come out from behind the bush. Looks like my Panasonic has limited life in my hands if Chelbi has her way.

Silver marsh spider - one of the most colourful spiders to photograph - translucent blue or green.

Dragonflies - I have spent some time looking for subjects to photograph. Managed a few decent photographs.

If you want to see plenty dragonfly photographs - all superb quality - have a look at http://jrandsue.blogspot.com/

I posted a mantis photograph a while back - a photograph which I titled "The Running Man" - stick mantis (not convinced it is popa undata) - anyway it is a stick or bark mantis of some kind. Here are two more photographs of the strange creature. If you are keen to photograph the mantis - it lives on a bush at my house - with a bit of effort it can be found and you can photograph it. It's best efforts to remain camouflaged do not work for it at present. I have found it virtually every time I have looked for it. Note: the bush is large - about the size of a small car.

Butterflies - not many around - must be the strong winds that Port Elizabeth has had - blows the butterflies away. Found a Thysbe Copper butterfly (orange wing tips / blue centre) a while ago - ran around in the bush at the sea waiting for it to land, then it was off, and the stop start marathon continued.

A common blue butterfly with rat eaten wings - surprisingly this butterfly flew quite well. Aerodynamic lesson to be learnt in here somewhere.

Remember: Click photographs to enlarge.

Random photographs - bugs / spiders

2010-09-07T14:22:00.000-07:00

Well it is spring in South Africa and insect and spider activity is definitely on the increase.

Here is a batch of insects and spider pictures.

Pressed for time hence no commentary!

Green grasshopper.

Skollie butterfly.

Hairy black jumping spider.

Big momma - ugly crab spider, but also beautiful in some way or the other.

Ugly spider from a tunnel.

Tiny green territorial spider.

Forrest funnel web spider.

Yellow crab spider.

Unknown orange and cream moth.

Long jawed ant mimic spider.

Short jawed ant mimic spider with meal.

Remember: Click on photographs to enlarge.

Lucky Packet

2010-08-28T23:46:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the long delay between posts and for not commenting as often on other blog posts or websites. Once this new strain of flu gets you in its grip it does not let go. It would appear that a realistic recovery period is 3 weeks for most.

I have been playing with light and experimenting with various settings. Photograph of a jumping spider (which is black, reddish and metallic [gold] in places). The following edits have been done only - added copyright, cropped (trimmed right edge) and a resize to reduce from 20Meg RAW. I used sunlight as the light source and achieved this result.

I have searched my reference works for an identification of this "arthropod". Any ideas? It has a lovely dark green compound eye, is semi-translucent, and it has about 5 or 6 pairs of legs and a few other appendages.

I went in search of the carnivorous snail, but only managed to find a shell. Chelbi (daughter) found this one on the coastal plains among the coastal shrubs and politely held it for a quick photograph. The children make taking photos fun as they have good eyes and look at the world from a different level.

Some other bugs - found on the Coastal Fynbos Trail at Schoenmakerskop. Unknown green bug which has a long proboscis which it extracts nectar from flowers with.

Spilostethus Pandurus - Milkweed Bug - Family Lygaeidae.

I continue to use the Panasonic DMC FZ50 for macro photography, and am still learning to use the Canon 7D. It is a large step up and I need to acquire a lens or two more for the Canon.

Collection of Mantis photographs

2010-08-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

My reference books refer to numerous Mantids of the order Mantodea. A praying mantis is a relatively large predatory insect, which is recognised by its large eyes, spiky forelegs and a characteristic praying posture.

I have included photographs of 3 different varieties - common green mantid (Sphodromantis gastrica), Hoplocorypha macra and another unknown variant.

Spot the mantis in the first photograph.

Photographs of the common green mantid.

Spot the mantis (x 2) in this photograph.

Hoplocorypha macra is quite unique - colouration and shape of its head. The mantis was found on a dry bush in a coastal fynbos zone.

The 3rd mantis is unknown to me. I noticed the twig lying on a leaf. Twigs do not normally have legs.

Photographs of the mantis that mimics a dead twig.

I think a decent title for this photograph is "The Running Man"

Remember: Click any photograph to enlarge image.

Spiders - Silver Marsh Spider and Long Jawed Water Spider

2010-08-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

The Silver Marsh Spider (or Orchard spider) - [genera Leucauge] is brightly coloured. The abdomen is silver patterned with green, yellow and/or orange markings. The spider is harmless and makes an excellent subject for macro photography. Size of my subject - about 8mm from tip of hind legs to tip of front legs.

I noticed the spider has a web which is like an orb web. The central section is not complete and remains as a hole with the spider hanging or lying across the central open area of the web. The reference book - Filmer's Spiders describes the open area of the web as "the absence of a central hub".

Note: I have included the silhouette photograph of the spider for Jonker, seeing as he appreciated my roach silhouette photograph from a previous post.

The Long Jawed Water Spider (Tetragnatha) is found near fresh water. The body is long and slender, with well developed chelicerae (the things that we all mistake for fangs) from which the fangs protrude. I have had the pleasure of having one of these run across my hand while I photographed the spider that is featured in these photographs. I now know that the spider species is harmless. The spider is fast moving and spins a web at an angle downwards towards water. These spiders ran across / on top of water and aggressively defend their area from other water spiders.

Remember: Click any photograph to enlarge.

Giraffes at Sunset, Leopard Catshark, Stingray & some flies

2010-07-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

I see that some of my blogger friends (Elettra and others) have posted spider photographs, so I have decided to skip posting more spider photographs this week.

Port Elizabeth had fantastic clear blue water last week, so I took my camera with and managed a few pictures. The first I have titled "Giraffes at Sunset" - I was spearfishing in the bay (Algoa Bay) and had to swim in as the winter sun was setting quickly and a photo opportunity presented itself with the harbour cranes representing the "giraffes".

I was fortunate enough to encounter a leopard catshark - harmless little gully dweller with an amazing colour / pattern. Length of this shark - about 40 to 50 centimetres.

A stingray crossed my path at some point and I took the pictures. Size - measured by wingspan from edge to edge across back - about 70 centimetres.

I saw that Jonker had posted (a while back) a white daisy-like flower photograph taken at Schoenmakerskop. The flower is not that prevalent in the area at present, but there are a few around. Just enough to keep me interested. Why? There is a small fly (maybe 2 mm in length), very small with unique colours and the most fantastic eye colours - light dependent. I found one or two of these flies and took a few macro photographs. Warning - wet dogs (after they have had a quick swim in the sea) are in the area often and curious onlookers often stand in the sunlight and their shadows destroy the quality of the image - the lens wants light - plenty of light. I will try to get better photographs of this fly - maybe this weekend - light and water conditions permitting.

Various photographs of the fly - notice the wing patterns and strange eye colours.

Another tiny fly with red eyes on a yellow flower.

Another hairy white fly with smoother red eyes - shot taken with higher iso in poorer light.

Other good news for me. I am soon to become the recipient of a brand new Canon EOS 7d. Sunday will be the day if all works out. I would appreciate any comments regarding lens choices - any experiences.

Remember: Click any photograph to enlarge.

Variety of insects

2010-07-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

What a week we have had - the sea has been blue, clear and flat with cool water. Those of us fortunate enough to stay at the coast and at one of the best coastal cities in the world will appreciate the summer we have had in winter. The weather has been exceptional, the wind light, if any. I was fortunate to dive 3 times this week.

My insect photograph folder grows too quickly, so it is time to unpack a few photographs onto the blog. I have no idea what many of the names or types of bugs these are. I will say that anyone interested in taking photographs of these insects need not have a secret spot, but should simply keep their eyes open.

Some roach photographs - these cockroaches are found at the coast, in the coastal vegetation. The 2nd photograph is of a "see-through" version of the roach. Not sure who has spent time identifying the various species, not me. I do not believe that you will find these roach species in your home (unless you live at the sea), and they seem to favour the lush vegetation that prospers in the moist sea air.

A silhouette of the roach in photograph number 1.

A cricket that I found on my back lawn a few months ago. Photographs taken just before sunset - February 2010. See crickets cannot bite - well not this version anyway.

Tiny grey weevil walking on paving stone. These bugs have good eyesight and don't walk toward the camera lens. So I have a side-on photograph.

Side-on photograph of a shield bug.

Joan was kind enough to enlighten me as to the secret techniques of photographing dragonflies. I managed to take a few photographs and am happy with the initial results, considering these are my first real attempts with the camera combination that I now have.

A damselfly (I think) with a tiny ladybird bug. Never actually noticed these "flies" before. Worth a second attempt at some point at a secret spot! The damselfly was very sly. In the background is shallow water which prevented me from getting another angle, unless I was prepared to get my feet wet.

Joan's photographs can be viewed at http://saphotographs.blogspot.com/

A tiger beetle - this beetle would not stay still - anyway - that is what a tiger beetle looks like!

Red bugs (cenaeus carnifex) - these bugs seem to crawl out before sunset. High iso photograph of a mating pair.

Frontal picture of a red bug.

One often sees a beetle with its head buried in a flower. Normally the hind legs protrude while the head is buried deep into the pollen stalks of the flower. I stumbled onto the name for these beetles by chance in the Field Guide to Insects - Mike Picker / Charles Griffiths / Alan Weaving. The beetles are called monkey beetles. Here is a photograph of the rear end of a monkey beetle.

A jewel beetle on a yellow flower.

Remember: Click any photograph to enlarge.

Butterflies & Wasps

2010-07-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

I saw that Joan had recently posted a butterfly photograph which was similar to those I have taken in the past. I was however fortunate enough to take the photographs of the butterfly with its wings closed and then spread open. I have no idea why it is called a common blue except to say that the butterfly has a blue area around its abdomen. Refer to the photographs for the reference to the colours.

Ichneumon wasp. I do not believe that these wasps sting and this one was pretty tame. Notice the jelly-tot like eyes in the 3rd photograph. I took these on 22 June 2010.

Wasp and spider - this tiny wasp caught 2 separate spiders on two separate days. I managed to photograph both events purely by chance. In both scenarios I missed the death sting being administered by the wasp, although on day one I did capture it, but it was blurred. These wasps and spiders are tiny and it would appear as though the wasp kills one spider per hatchling wasp. The dead spider is used to plug the hole in which the wasp pupa lies and once the wasp hatches it eats its way through the spider.

A few more photographs of various small wasps on yellow flowers. The wasps are all different and the photographs were taken at various locations on different days.

A really nasty spider hunting wasp. This wasp was quite agitated, but I managed to get the photographs without any stings. Note that it only appears to have one smaller eye set on its head between the compound eyes (in addition to the pair of compound eyes).

I am by no means the wasp expert, but it would appear as though the experts use the number of joints / separately identifiable portions of an antennae as a means to identify a wasp. The ichneumon wasp above has 16 or 17 "joints" to an antennae, while the spider hunter above might have 10 joints. Eye patterns and the number of eyes also appear to vary between wasps and the sub-species / genus.

Remember: Click on a photograph to enlarge image.

Mealtime, Spider growth and White Crab Spider with its prey

2010-07-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

I venture to a favourite spider-inhabited bush in my garden quite often and look for my friend that nasty, but cute jumping spider who seems to be quite territorial. I previously posted a sequence where the spider had caught a bee. I was not aware that fellow arachnids had to be careful around my little friend. Here the spider is finishing off another morsel - this time a fellow arachnid.
White crab spider with a fly. A small patch of flowers at a nursery was the location.

A sequence of photographs of the tiniest of spiders shedding its exoskeleton. There was a light breeze and the newly emerged spider was swaying in the breeze. I really enjoy the squid-like appearance in some of the photographs.

I am quite pleased with my latest book acquisition - Filmer's Spiders - Martin Filmer revised by Norman Larsen. I have extracted / summarised the explanation of a spiders growth from this invaluable reference.
"Spiders emerge from their eggs as copies of the parents. They grow rapidly through a series of ecdyses .... Each time the old exoskeleton (exuviae) has been shed, the spider grows rapidly until the new, pliable exoskeleton hardens and effectively halts any further growth. The spider is then obliged to wait for the next ecdysis before growing any bigger."

Remember to click on any photograph to enlarge.

Mixed Bag - Birds, Bee mimic fly and others

2010-07-08T13:00:00.000-07:00

I have taken a few photographs of birds and have created a collage or two. The quality has declined due to the compression I used.

A sequence with a heron on a rocky perch at the sea. The heron is startled and flies off. I capture a few images in the sequence and have edited out a few others.

I have found an ideal spot for photographing sunbirds - yet another secret spot. I did see the bright green / dark blue male sunbird, but did not capture any image. The sunbird in the collage is a female - dull colours. The sky was heavily overcast and I will return soon. Spring may be an even better time to capture the vibrant colours of the male sunbird.

While driving past the secret sunbird spot I noticed a kingfisher sitting on a concrete pole. Took these photographs from inside my car through the open driver door window. I believe that the bird is a Brownhooded kingfisher. First time that I have seen a real live kingfisher in my life. The bird looked a bit dishevelled and dirty - not sure why, but the blue on the wings and tails was reasonably bright.

While on the general topic of flight let me introduce the beetle / bug with the broken wing. I have no idea what this bug is, but it is a hybrid between a long snouted weevil and a beetle - my humble "insecto" brain thinking. Size maybe 3 to 4 mm - not large at all. First photograph is of the insect on a leaf - note the long snout with appendages near the tip and the trailing wing. It would appear to have two sets of wings - an outer set (protective) and a clear inner set (for flight). Second photograph was taken as the bug left the leaf and started flying. The buckled / twisted right wing is evident. I was very lucky with the timing on the second photograph. For reference purposes - bug / beetle number 1 - should you be able to assist with identification.

Today was a beautiful day in Port Elizabeth - sunny and reasonably warm for winter. Captured this bee mimic fly on a flower (in addition to a number of other spiders today).

Photography is a strange and funny pastime. I found this unknown bug on a hairy leaf and captured two photographs. I tried to get the all important frontal photograph, but almost put my hand and head into a spider's web which effectively blocked the only access to the front angle. It was an ugly bush spider of the orb web variety - but the web had small twigs hanging from it and other leaves and the silk was as thick as fishing nylon. No need to have a large ugly spider on my face for the sake of a bug picture. The worst part is - my little helper is saying - "watch out there is a spider behind your head", and I say "yes I know" as I had pointed out a very large and very well camouflaged hairy bush spider out to my little helper a few moments earlier. The brain never thinks that there can be two similar spiders within a metre or two of each other and that I have not spotted the more obvious one while focussing on this bug. For reference and identification purposes - this is unknown bug number 2. It has a metallic emerald green area on the body just above the hind leg.

Remember: Click any photograph to enlarge.

Breakfast and spiders - again

2010-07-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

I need help - I am attracted to spiders.

Included in this blogpost please find a photograph of a beautiful breakfast that one of my friends enjoyed at Kiddie Lovers / Garden Lovers on Kragga Kamma Road.

While on the topic of food - here is a sequence of photographs with an innocent looking jumping spider who just happened to have caught a bee. Eventually the spider had sucked the last juices from the bee and dropped the dry and lifeless bee to the ground. I have included a few additional photographs of the furry spider - just because I am allowed to.

The more one photographs spiders, the more one sees some form of curious character trait in them - ok they are all curious - curious as to why some wild bug-eyed man with a third giant eye keeps on moving in on their space.

Another (different) jumping spider with a fly for a morsel. It seemed as though every spider was catching flies and posing for the camera this week. I have a batch of ant-mimic spider photographs where many different spiders all had caught a meal.

Remember: Click any photograph to enlarge.

Tiny Crab spider and Tiny Green Spider

2010-06-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

First a little game - "find the two bugs".

Remember to click photographs to enlarge.

There are two bugs in this photograph. Can you find them? See answer at end of post.

I was trying to extricate myself from an ivy and "rambling rose" thicket and had 4 different spiders to choose to photograph. What really interested me was a black and gold coloured jumping spider, but then this "crab" spider clambered onto my wrist. I let it drop onto the grass and took the photographs. Apologies for the quality - the sun sets too early and the spider was in the grass in the shade of a fast-setting sun. My books provide no definite identification so I searched the internet for information and I sought out Norman Larsen's information on http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/arachnids/spiders

The spider would appear to be a flower crab spider (Thomisus).

Extract from Norman Larsen's description of the spider - "The most conspicuous genus in the family. Spiders are short and squat, ranging in size from 3-11mm. The glabrous integument (exoskeleton) is cryptically coloured, taking on the colour of its surroundings. Thomisus is able to undergo white to yellow or pink colour changes depending on the flower they are sitting on. This colour change facilitates camouflage on flower ambush sites and is completed within 2 days. While colour patterns are species specific, colours can vary. Not all species have this colour changing ability as some species occur on bark or among grass seeds and thus are a cryptic brown. The first and second pairs of legs are noticeably longer and thicker than the last 2 pairs and are used for prey capture. The abdomen is triangular in shape, being widest posteriorly. The lateral eyes are situated on tubercles.

Thomisus is a sedentary spider and is usually noticed only when one sees a strangely positioned, usually upside down, insect and upon investigation, the insect can be seen to be in the grips of a spider. Thomisus waits for flying insects to settle, patient and motionless, with outstretched legs. She can detect them from 20mm and when within a range of 5-10mm, Thomisus closes her powerful front legs, catching the insect which can be up to 3 times her size. The insect is then bitten behind the head and killed. The insides are dissolved with enzymes and sucked from the exoskeleton and the empty, perfect form of the insect is dropped to the ground."

A green spider was victim to my lens yesterday while I backed into a large wild strelitzia plant. Suddenly the tiny mosquito / midge-type insect that I was busy with was not interesting enough and this tiny green spider absorbed my attention. The spider did not like the sunlight and preferred to hide on the shady side of leaf.

Thanks again to Norman Larsen - he has a similar photograph to those that I took. It is a green crab spider (Oxytate).

The spider appeared to be shy and tried to hide often. Eventually it decided to drop off the strelitzia leaf and uisng its web came to rest on a yucca plant. These three photographs were taken on the yucca.

Also from http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/arachnids/spiders - "Oxytate, previously known as Dieta, is long and slender and colouration varies from pale cream to translucent green sometimes freckled with lighter spots. The female's shape and colour afford effective camouflage among grasses and stems. Oxytate rests on grass with anterior legs outstretched forward and hind legs next to the body holding on."

Answer to the question is that there are two bugs - one green and colourful "shield bug" directly above the yellow flower and a spider on the left of the yellow flower. I unfortunately did not get a chance to take photographs of the "shield bug" or the spider as I had other subjects to photograph.

Just some birds

2010-06-21T10:49:00.000-07:00

I have been a bit busy of late and have just not had time to update the blog or add comments to other people's blogs.

I have tried to avoid taking bird pictures - South Africa just has too many different bird species to even start a photo collection. I found quite a decent spot on Sunday which cannot be a 1 kilometre from my house. Problem - no camera on hand and many birds flapping around. Next time.

Birds in my backyard - fiscal shrike, yellow bird, starling and a mousebird.

Birds near or at the sea - blacksmith lapwing, white-breasted cormorant and a little egret with the yellow feet.

Other birds - red-winged starling, cape white-eye and female sunbird (2 photographs). Tourists robbed me of the opportunity to photograph the dark green / blue male sunbird. I suppose there is always someone who walks in front of the lens or makes excessive noise.

I took a photograph of this "parrot". Seemed to be a domesticated bird which was lost in the wild. Must learn some bird calls to entice birds like this to me.

Remember: Click photographs to enlarge.

Ladybirds and stripe-eyed fly & spider fun

2010-06-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

Photographs from a series of ladybirds mating (I assume).

Another ladybird close-up - pity I never noticed the drop of dew/water on its back while taking the photograph. Opportunity missed to possibly get some form of reflection or really creative photograph.

Two red & green eyed flies on a white flower. I took these pictures on the Sacramento Trail with screaming kids "bugging" me. In retrospect, I should have taken more time to get a really decent macro of the flies head and eyes.

The failed macro shot. What I did find interesting was the way the salt crystals created a sparkling effect on the white petals. These white flowers deserve a second visit.

Cool fly with striped patterns in its compound eyes.

I found this tiny jumping spider on my bedside table. I experimented a bit with the bed side lamp as the lighting and a health spa brochure as the surface for the spider to rest on. What I did notice was that the overly glossy paper created some harsh reflections and required different angles to try to avoid the sharp reflecting light. The overall effect was quite pleasing though. Need to revisit this type of macro photography with a slightly less reflective surface.

Remember: Click any photograph to enlarge.

Flowers & Plants - Port Elizabeth area

2010-06-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

Flowers and plants are not my favourite subjects for digital photography. I have chosen a few photographs to show some diversity and my apparent and obvious lack of knowledge regarding the identification of most of the flowers and plants.

Number 1: A day lily after a brief rain shower.

Number 2: A frilly yellow flower.

Number 3: Bougainvillea. Something about the shape of the bunch of flowers caught my eye so I took a photograph. Cannot remember what it was that caught my eye so long ago.

Number 4: Pansy type flower - I was fiddling with macro settings and trying to capture the pollen.

Number 5: A flower from a florist. It has a blob of honey/syrup leaking out - so I zoomed in and out, generated the vignette (darkness around edges of photograph). Anyway the bright orange colour is warm, if nothing else, considering it is winter here.

Number 6: Some kind of Protea. South African national flower I believe.

Number 7: Wild geese - direct translation from "willegansies". If I have identified this plant correctly then it is the same plant that is used for traditional remedies. Warning - first find out from someone who knows before plucking the leaves or flowers of this plant and making a brew for that sore throat or cough. I could also be horribly confused and have it all wrong. Most likely.

Number 8: Bromeliad flower. I had this one in storage until I saw Jonker's post on http://fireflyafrica.blogspot.com
Appears to be the same type of flower. Thanks Jonker.

Number 9: Red tube flowers. I enquired at a nursery a few weeks back, but trying to explain what a flower or bush looks like, as opposed to pointing to a sample of the plant, is impossible. Not a honeysuckle bush though.

I will post another flower and plant series soon. I have more in stock.

Remember: Click on any photograph to enlarge image.

Open Sky - Port Elizabeth & Weird Bug

2010-06-08T11:17:00.001-07:00

Open Sky is an entertainment park situated on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth. It is easily accessible along the N2 towards Humansdorp, and about 10 minutes drive from my house. I believe it is the first off-ramp to the left once you leave Port Elizabeth's city limits.

Address: Plot 74, Windomayne Road, Little Chelsea
Telephone number: 041-3721235

Some photographs of this tranquil venue. It is well worth the visit and my kids are obsessed with the giant tyre swing - 4 little ones fit comfortably into the giant tyre and all you need is one adult to push and swing the kids. Other adults like me - will idle around and drink coffee or enjoy some food.

Activities include: Putt Putt / Trampoline / Animal touch farm - feeding / craft stalls / Pony rides / many swings hanging from a giant tree / Coffee shop / Restaurant / Aviary / Mini train rides and more.

It has an area with yellow flowers and many bugs and I leave the kids to play while I snap away. Ooops secret is out - well I have many more good bug spots.

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Onto the weird bug. I have no idea what this bug is. A desk in one office at our business kept getting tiny woodchip / dry grass pieces on it. It would appear as though the bug / worms came from a box that we stored files for review in. The box was obtained from a large local fruit merchant. Every time a file was taken from the box and placed on the desk these bugs would drop onto the desk. What was really interesting was that the tiny tube of dead grass would be motionless and then it would suddenly start to move. With the naked eye it looked like a tiny dark red tongue that protruded, almost like an appendage with a sucker on it. I brought one home and took a few photographs on a white piece of paper in poor light. I have had these photographs for quite a while, and in hindsight I should have taken the trouble to set up a decent lightbox to really photograph and display the bug. I was quite horrified once I had zoomed in.

It appears to be a worm encased in a cigar-like roll made of dust particles. My macro zoom equipment was struggling with an object of this microscopic size in the bad light. It would peak its orange/red head on a white worm-like body out and drag itself along. The tube appeared to be connected to the worm - maybe it is a "tortoise worm". If one moved close enough the body and head would retract as it sensed potential danger.

I said earlier that I should have spent more time - but this bug was repulsive. Wonder where my dislike for "worm" macro photography originates from. It should be obvious after this.

I wonder who can solve this bug mystery for me.

Remember: Click photographs to enlarge.

Hidden bug & nasty orange / black bug

2010-06-06T11:47:00.000-07:00

The first photograph has three "bugs" or groups of "bugs" evident. I have labelled the first 2 - Bug 1 and Bug(s) 2. Can you spot the third "bug"? It may be advisable to click on the photograph to enlarge it which should make the text that I have added easily readable.

The solution is posted at the end of this blog - a photograph with a specific area enlarged to display the "bug". I almost missed a photo opportunity, but fortunately did see "bug" number 3.

The bug labelled Bug 1 forms the basis for today blogpost. I noticed an orange/red and black "ladbybird" on a leaf. Took the first photographs and realised that this bug was no "ladybird". Note the thorny / spikes along the perimeter.
While I zoomed in, and looked for another angle, the bug extended itself upwards, while stuck to the leaf at one end. I am unsure if it was a defence mechanism or a means to slumber until the bug "metamorphoses" into the next stage of its life. Notice the area which is attached to the leaf resembles a circle of thorns. The bug remained in this upright extended position and I moved on to take some other photographs.

I am sure Joan will have the answer as to what this orange/red/black spiny bug is and what it matures into. Here are more photographs of the bug, in what I presume to be a more advanced stage of its life cycle. 6 legs are evident, which it uses to scurry frenetically around the leaves with. There were a reasonable number of these creatures on the leaves, and I would be interested to know what they will eventually transform into. Butterflies possibly? If so, then I need to get back to the spot quickly - anyone know what time frame the transformation takes?

Solution to the 3rd bug mystery. See enlarged area of the leaf - dead / brown area has the bug hiding in plain sight, but neatly camouflaged.

A tiny brown jumping spider is the answer. Click photograph to enlarge.

Flies, firefly, vuurvliegie etc

2010-05-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Just when the blogging public thought I had disappeared, I return to unleash some more untold horrors. Dang, but I have too many photographs and too many unidentified flying objects too. So it is time to unload some more flies on the unsuspecting population.

http://www.vuurvliegie.net - my brother-in-laws blogsite. He has done things the hard way - written his own html code and added his own fancy picture pop-up.

http://fireflyafrica.blogspot.com/

I have no idea what the names are of many of these flies / insects - but post the pictures in the hope that someone will identify one or two for me.

Unknown green fly - found this one near my front door light at night. It has quite a colourful compound eye and if I see one again I will try to get some decent macro photographs of the eyes and wings.

Strange red fly - Storms River area - dang the tourists for disturbing me and the fly just as I was about to get really close to this fly. I must have taken two photographs and then the fly took off, never to be seen again.

Blow fly - front
Blow fly - but
Unknown fly 1.
Unknown fly 2.
Hideous black fly.
Unknown fly - cream coloured.
3 fly orgy. I noticed these tiny flies on the blade of a yucca. I thought that they were victims of the cold air which was 11 degrees celsius per my thermometer. The flies were alive, but lying on the leaf. There are 3 in total and one (the smallest one is a midge). I have no idea what they were up to. Not sure if the 2 bigger flies were the parents, and I am also not sure if a midge grows into one of the two bigger flies. The 3 flies all seems to be connected, one way or the other, and I thought the midge may be suckling. Really not sure. The wind blew them off the yucca and I found the 3 flies together again a few minutes later on a lemon tree leaf about 2 metres away. The last photograph is of them on the lemon tree leaf.

Remember: Click any photograph to enlarge.

Jumping Spiders - plenty of them

2010-05-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

This post covers some jumping spider photographs I have taken recently (be warned I have more). I did not really want to choose specific photographs, so this post includes 4 different jumping spiders, and my favourite jumping spider picture from a while ago - little black jumper - last picture in this post.

There are quite a few spiders in the jumping spider family. I have not seen any definite literature on jumping spiders of South Africa, although the reference I have refers to 622 african species - Family salticidae. Anyone willing to provide details on available reference works. Maybe we should collect hundreds of photographs and send them to Joan (the bug lady) for identification.

Brown and white jumping spider.
White, black and dark orange jumping spider. Really a tiny spider. The ground / sand grains that you may see in the photographs is normal sand "macro'ed".
Another tiny jumper with a meal.
A favourite photograph of mine with the same tiny jumper (who had the beetle meal) as the subject.

Tiny gold and black jumper (vicious orange fangs).

Black jumping spider. Repost.

I have a few more jumping spider photographs hiding away on the hardrive, and have found a wonderful spot to get more photographs with an extremely diverse variety. Just need some time.

Remember click to enlarge photographs.

Butterflies and moths

2010-05-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Joan, from saphotographs.blogspot.com, recently posted a picture of a plume moth. I took my first photographs of a plume moth a few weeks ago. I have seen many of these moths, but this was the first time that I had a camera handy.
Eggar moth photograph taken during June 2008 at the Fish River Lighthouse. It was dark and the bricks that the moth rests on were part of the fireplace. I had lit a huge fire to sear the meat on, and it was bitterly cold outside. The moth was obviously cold and was basking in the warmth of the fire that had heated the bricks. These moths can grow quite large - with wingspans of 5cm or more. This moth's wingspan spanned more than half a brick. Anyone remember the movie Quest for Fire - the cavemen would catch giant moths as they flew by and eat them. Not sure if they are edible, but reference books talk about hairs that can become embedded in the skin causing irritation. So I would not recommend catching or eating these insects.
Blue butterfly (common blue).
Common white butterfly (brown veined white).
Unknown butterflies - my books have limited butterfly identification information. The white butterfly could be a common white, as its eyes are similar, but colouration is different. The yellow butterfly was extremely flighty and would sit for brief moments before flying off. These photographs were taken at Storms River mouth.

Remember: Click to enlarge