Bugs Show 'Insect'

A skulking ladybird

I was out walking this afternoon, just up the lane that passes my cottage when I noticed this ladybird hiding under the little leaves (they must have a technical name that escapes me at the moment) at the base of what will become a Red Campion flower.

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Panasonic G1 with 45mm, f/2.8 Leica DG Macro-Elmarit @ f/8, 1/320 sec, iso 200

This is an un-cropped image with minor adjustments to the raw file in Bibble Pro 5.

Barrie

PS, had to look it up (not really a plant man), they're sepals
 
Two more from this afternoons walk

Just how does a bright insect like this Red Admiral butterfly conceal itself, why just by closing its wings.

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Can you spot it?


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You can hardly miss it now

Both shots with a Panasonic G1 fitted with 45mm, f/2.8 Leica DG Macro-Elmarit, 1st one at f/5.6, the 2nd at f/8.

Barrie
 
The warm weather was working wonders today

A couple of shots from todays walk showing a hoverfly Syrphus ribesii, sorry no common English name although it's a common hoverfly feeding on the flowers of Alexanders.

Both shots taken with a Panasonic G1 fitted with 45mm, f/2.8 Leica DG Macro-Elmarit, both at f/8.

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You might be able to see that the insect is using its front legs to clean its eyes


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Again these are un-cropped shots

Barrie
 
little tiny bugs

I took this thinking it was of pollen spores:
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It did not turn out very well and I thought I would go back out and take another. When I saw movment I realized they were little tiny bugs:
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Butterflies with a borrowed 100-300mm Panasonic lens

Today a friend generously allowed me to borrow her 100-300mm Panasonic lens (it might have been a blessing since when she got home she accidentally dropped her camera bag on a quarry tile floor and has damaged her 105mm Sigma and possibly the G1 as well, so her 100-300mm lens was at least safe with me).

These are a couple of the 178 pictures I took this afternoon. The lens was zoomed to 300mm, set to auto focus and the images are not cropped.

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Both are of a male Orange tip butterfly on Greater Stitchwort, not the easiest of insects to photograph as they tend to stay on the wing for long periods and do not habitually bask in the sunshine.

Barrie

ps, yes I'm impressed with the lens. So far all shots have been hand held, I am not able to judge manual focus under those conditions, will see how that pans out when tripod mounted, thankfully the auto focus gets it right most of the time, some mis focusses and some hunting at times when operating close to the close up focus limit.

Barrie
 
Incredibly beautiful markings on both of these butterflies, Barrie! Just gorgeous!

I am sorry for your friend...and hope her camera and other lens are AOK. I guess you'll be able to use this for a while, until she's sure.
 
Incredibly beautiful markings on both of these butterflies, Barrie! Just gorgeous!

I am sorry for your friend...and hope her camera and other lens are AOK. I guess you'll be able to use this for a while, until she's sure.

I've been somewhat naughty and e-mailed her to ask her if she really wants this lens back, I'd be happy to hang on to for the insect season, now for some birds although sadly rain is forecast for tomorrow.

Barrie
 
I don't think you're that naughty.;)

Well so far so good, no request to return the 100-300mm lens just yet, looks like I've got it until Sunday at least. Brenda tells me her G1 and adapter have survived but that the Sigma 105 is on its way for repair having had its mount ripped off and the innards exposed, sounds like its in a very sorry state. She is actually rather pleased that she lent me the 100-300mm lens about an hour before disaster struck, it would normally have been in the same padded camera bag, the moral being don't drop camera bag onto a quarry tile floor, or indeed any other non forgiving surface.

Barrie
 
The first Elephant of the season

This was posted in it's own thread, but thought I'd post here as well for completeness.

It's a newly emerged Elephant Hawk Moth, the pupa having been in my care since the caterpillar I was given last year (from memory probably in early September, pupated). It emerged from the pupa today less than 2 hours before this photograph was taken.

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Panasonic G1 with 45mm Panasonic Leica f/2.8

Barrie
 
butterfly transect monitoring interrupted to test the 100-300mm Panasonic lens

I undertook a weekly butterfly monitoring transect today and found my concentration on the task in hand interrupted by photo opportunities.

This is a Small Tortoiseshell, it's not in pristine condition having been alive for about 8 months, although it will have spent the whole of the winter in hibernation. They are sometimes tempted out on warm days in January or February but that uses up valuable energy that they probably won't be able to replace at that time of the year, so a case of living dangerously.

This winter was on the whole colder than normal so most would have stayed in hibernation, hence hopefully safe and warm.

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Barrie
 
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