Mosquito photographed (in Delta, BC, Canada) just after it had emerged from its aquatic pupa and was standing on the water surface readying itself to fly away
Its flyday!
Many people don’t realize that mosquitoes are a type of fly. I photographed this nice specimen just after it had emerged from its aquatic pupa and was standing on the water surface readying itself to fly away. It’s amazing how pretty this little beast was when you see it up close, what with its sparkly green eyes! It would probably be even prettier if it had a gut full of red blood too! Hmmm…green eyes and red blood…that gives me an idea of what to post next Christmas!
Portrait of a mosquito photographed (in Delta, BC, Canada) just after it had emerged from its aquatic pupa and was standing on the water surface readying itself to fly away
This mosquito was a product of my backyard swamp: an old half wine barrel full of mud topped with a few inches of water (and planted with a thick mass of emergent water plants). This was also the source of a number of nice mosquito larvae and pupae that I also photographed. Those photos will be the subject of another post in the near future.
And no, biting mosquitoes aren’t a problem in my garden. The many spiders, damsel flies and other insect predators (not to mention my carnivorous plants) seem to be more than a match for the relatively small number of mosquitoes that emerge from my “swamp”. In fact I haven’t had a single mosquito bite so far this summer!
Cheers,
EC
The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 35mm macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus FL-36 flash (on TTL)
ISO: 200
macrocritters 
I will admit the green eyes are pretty! I have to keep my bee suit on at all times at the apiary now, as if I don’t I get covered with pink hives the next day from all my mozzy bites.
Pingback: Flyday August 2, 2013: death of a mosquito | macrocritters