Post your insects

[deetheturk]

Hi Bruce,cheers for the comments.

David

[jdathebowler]

Could anyone please identify this for me.I think it is a Female Drone Hoverfly.

John

Honey Bee by jdathebowler, on Flickr

[Geoff F]

Some hoverflies mimic bees. So this must be a bee mimicking a hoverfly.

Going by that very long cell in the leading wing edge, I would suggest this is a Honeybee.

[jdathebowler]

Thanks Geoff I knew you wouldn't fail me.
John

[jdathebowler]

Here's a hoverfly I found in the garden yesterday.I hope I am improving taking insect photos.
More advice please in regard areas for further improvement would be appreciated.
John
Hoverfly by jdathebowler, on Flickr

[DanK]

Nice capture. This one IS a hoverfly, I believe. The eyes and antennae are distinctly fly-like. Also, the hourglass pattern shows up on a variety of different hoverflies.

I have two suggestions. First, I can't read the exif from your image, but the DOF seems shallow. How did you shoot this?

Second, shots from on top like this are usually not as interesting as many alternatives. Years ago Scott Kelby advised people who want to do photos of flowers that it is helpful to find a perspective different from what people walking by see. There are lots of options. Face-on works well, as do horizontal shots from the side. If you are going to shoot from above like this, then the trick is to find a way to add what others don't see. You might move forward so that the face shows, or get close enough that you can see details people usually don't see. For example, I think the following works OK, even though it is from the top:

[jdathebowler]

I shot it with a Canon 600D EFS 18-55mm Lens. 1/200 f10 ISO 400 + a 20mm ext tube.I could not get lower enough to shoot from underneath or from the side. I do tend to have a problem sometimes with DOF.
John

[Geoff F]

Shallow focus depth is very common with macro images, John. Nothing can be done about it because you already have a fairly narrow aperture. I often shoot with flash (camera in manual mode) which does allow me to go a little bit further, such as F14 or F16 but sometimes flash can cause as many problems as it solves.

All you can really do is to get the eyes sharp. Or other required areas if shooting specifically for identification.

That hoverfly is a male Eristalis tenax.

[jdathebowler]

Thanks for that Geoff. I think this maybe better. If you think it is then all the past advice I have been given must be sinking in.
John

[Geoff F]

Yes, that is a 'classic angle' and besides looking good it is easy to see that you have an Eristalis tenax male there because all the relevant items are clearly visible.

[orlcam88]

It's been quite here until recently so I decided to post some I took so far this summer in New York. Hopefully others will join:

The only butterfly I've captured this year. I think it's a bad year for butterflies. I seen so few that my garden is just empty without them.


A wasp peeking over a leaf


I've been practicing catching insects in flight this summer. Not an easy task as they move quickly. This one I took during takeoff as I found that the easiest to capture. Once they spread their wings, shoot!


I'm not sure what kind of beetle this is. I'm assuming it is a beetle. I found him wandering near some ants then it paused on a blade of grass:


and my favorite shot. I wasn't shooting bugs/insects on this shot. It was a shot of the flower but this bee just happen to land just as I pulled the trigger. I quickly looked to see if it was in focus and so it was!

[Cantab]

Orlando, a nice collection of images. I'm glad this thread seems to have come to life again.

My favourite is probably the butterfly. We've had a number of butterflies in the garden so I should have a go at them.

I also liked the bee in flight - a good tip about trying to capture them at take off rather than later.

[James G]

Taken a couple of days back at Upton Court (National Trust Property), between Stratford on Avon and Banbury


Thanks for the prompt Orlando, this is a good thread to keep alive.

[Franci]

Yes it is a nice thread and I missed it
I lost confidence with insects through a rainy spring and early summer, but this fly looked nice. Eristalis of some sort, I guess

[Geoff F]

Wrong, Francesca, check those wing veins.

Eristalis have a deep loop in the long vein roughly in the wing centre. So that is a Syrphus species. Difficult to go any further without seeing other angles.

It has been a strange year here for insects. Some 'common' species, like Syrphus, have been in short supply but others have helped to fill the gap. There is always an opportunity for something to flourish; trouble is, this year, stinging nettles and horseflies have done well.

[marlunn]

seems to be a lot of robbers as well, mind you in this case they are eating the other flies so its an ill wind....

[Shibang]

DSC_3253 by g.lang, on Flickr

[Shibang]

DSC_3065 by g.lang, on Flickr

[orlcam88]

I agree with the short supply. I had purposely setup my garden to attract insects, especially bees and butterflies and I'm not getting the quantity I had in previous years. At first, I didn't think anything was ever going to come as it took so long to finally get some bees. Butterflies are really hard to find and when I do see one, by the time I run and get my gear, it is gone. The one I posted above was at a Botanical and the only one I saw that day.

We did have a long lasting winter here and I suspect that this is the reason. Even my flowers are blooming late which of course delays the bees from coming. Last year was the same issue.
Here's a photo I took 2 years ago with a few butterflies in my garden. I guess I got spoiled and expected to see this every year. I even ordered caterpillars over the internet but they flew away. I did see one (or similar) fly by once.

Wrong, Francesca, check those wing veins.

Eristalis have a deep loop in the long vein roughly in the wing centre. So that is a Syrphus species. Difficult to go any further without seeing other angles.

It has been a strange year here for insects. Some 'common' species, like Syrphus, have been in short supply but others have helped to fill the gap. There is always an opportunity for something to flourish; trouble is, this year, stinging nettles and horseflies have done well.

[Geoff F]

Had quite a mixed bunch at one site today, and some will take quite a bit of time to identify.

Here are a few examples, but I was working amongst rushes on damp ground so getting good camera angles was virtually impossible. However, hopefully these will prove sufficiently interesting to overlook the quality issues.

A type of Midge (Chironomidae) where the males have these exceptionally feathery antennae.





And a leafhopper which could be Cixius nervosus but there are several similar alternatives.