Bottle fly on echinacea

[DanK]

This is actually two years old. I found it as I was searching tonight through some old images, looking for new things to print to put on my office wall. C&C welcome, of course. I didn't get the composition quite right, which often happens to me with bugs, because they don't give you time to reflect. These green bottle flies are quite amazing creatures, but I won't ruin anyone's dinner by describing the medical uses of their larvae.

[ggt]

I was out today with a friend taking pictures of bugs and dead flowers and things. Then I see this and wonder if I'll ever get shots like this!!!!! Absolutely fabulous. You are an inspiration.

[Bobobird]

Extremely detailed shot. Well done.

It is now well past dinner so you can divulge the details.

[DanK]

Thanks for the comments.

Gretchen, there are a lot of tricks of the trade in macro photography, but I think the biggest of them all is tolerance for failure. If you'd like to start, google "Lord V," a superb macro photographer, who has posted lots of tutorials and advice on numerous sites. One good site is this, where he and a few other excellent macro photographers post and offer tips.

Bobo--OK, you asked for it. The larvae of green bottle flies eat decaying flesh, but they will not eat healthy flesh. Therefore, they have been used to clean out serious wounds. This is charmingly called "maggot therapy." There is an article on it in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggot_therapy

Dan