My Favorite Mantis shots

[Nat]

While going through my old photos and organizing I have come to a conclusion: I need to get back to my hobby, photography. I realize all my best, favorite shots are from when I got my first DSLR, and was so excited I went out every day and shot and shot and shot. I even killed the camera, a used FUJI S2 Pro I got on Ebay. I spent the summer shooting everything around me. And if you do that, you will get some interesting shots. I don't know what happened that I stopped (yes I do, but I won't go into it)) but I plan to go out as much as I can and get back into it....I have lost my touch, I feel. Use it or lose it? Anyway, here are two of my favorite shots of Praying Mantis, after HOURS and Days and weeks of watching and waiting and shooting!! Hope you like them.

This one had been munching on a stinkbug, and I think he was taking the rest home for a snack....


This was one early morning with dew still on the plants, and it was sipping the dew....

[Geoff F]

Yes they work well, Nat, particularly the first one which is a classic shot.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Nat,

Yes I think they're good.

Can any one tell me ...
I sort of understand that an insect's compound eyes are multi-lens affairs that enable them to have a wide, but detailed angle of vision.

What I don't understand are the pigment spots, particularly on the Mantis - I've never had a chance to study one - does the spot indicate where it is looking? I suspect not, given that say, butterflies have many spots and house flies none.

Confused - and I have tried googling and didn't find an answer - I read a bit about the pigment (in compound eyes) adjusting the sensitivity, but I don't see how that relates to the examples I just gave.

Many thanks and apologies to Nat for hijacking your thread, but then you may know the answer

[Nat]

Thanks for the nice comments. As my hobby is photography and not biology, I'm not up on the eyeballs of the mantis. Maybe you can decipher something in these papers. Greek to me. Just love to shoot them.

jeb.biologists.org/content/120/1/265.full.pdf
jeb.biologists.org/content/148/1/353.full.pdf

What are the two black dots on the compound eyes?

The black dots are pseudo-pupils. This is an illusion that is often seen in animals with compound eyes. The dark spot appears to be pointed directly towards the observer (or camera). An easy way to check this is to have several people look at the eyes. Each will see the "pupils" looking at them, all at the same time.

[Dave Humphries]

What are the two black dots on the compound eyes?

The black dots are pseudo-pupils. This is an illusion that is often seen in animals with compound eyes. The dark spot appears to be pointed directly towards the observer (or camera). An easy way to check this is to have several people look at the eyes. Each will see the "pupils" looking at them, all at the same time.

Ah-ha, you mean we're all looking down long thin tubes into a black central core that only shows through the tube we are looking perpendicularly in to?

Thanks,