Jumping spider eating cricket: test of new flash bracket and diffuser

Jumping spider (Phidippus sp.) feeding on a two-week old house cricket (Acheta domesticus)

OK, it has been way too long since I posted anything substantial. This time, however, I have a pretty good excuse for my lack of productivity: two weeks ago I lost my job. After 13 years with the same organisation the decision was made to cut my program (and me). I wasn’t given any warning and I have been scrambling ever since. Mind you, we are having a beautiful summer and I should be enjoying all my new found free time. But the whole loss of income thing is rather distracting…especially with two kids and a mortgage.

But enough about all that, I didn’t create this blog just to whinge about my personal life.

My subject today once again is a jumping spider [either Phidippus borealis or P. johnsoni—I’m really not sure how to distinguish them]. And once again it is eating another critter [I tend to post a lot of pictures of one critter eating another don’t?].

Jumping spider (Phidippus sp.) feeding on a two-week old house cricket (Acheta domesticus).

I have to say that I am really happy with these photos. I love jumping spiders and as far as I’m concerned one can never have too many pictures of these delightful little beasts [or of bugs eating other bugs apparently]. But I am especially pleased with these images because they are the first test of a new flash bracket and diffuser I made. For the past while I have been relying too much on my ring flash. It is really easy to use but I haven’t been completely satisfied with the results I have been getting. I’ll write more about the new set-up in a following post [no, really, I will]. Right now I’ll just write about this particular spider and how it came to star on this blog.

Yesterday I was home with my two boys. They are on summer vacation and of course I am now an unemployed bum for the first time in 30 years [sorry, whinging again]. They know of my interest in creepy crawlies [which they sort of share] and are always keen to point out any interesting bugs they spot, whether they are dead or alive. Well, yesterday they called me into the living room because there was a black spider on the ceiling. I went and took a look and found this nice young jumping spider. It was about half grown, approximately nine millimetres long.

Jumping spider (Phidippus sp.) feeding on a two-week old house cricket (Acheta domesticus).

At first I was just going to release the spider outside, same as I do for any other spider that wanders into the house. But I thought maybe I’d hang on to it for a couple of hours so I could take a few photos. Its abdomen looked a little small, so I decided to give it a meal in the meantime. So the spider went into a plastic cup with a mesh lid and I tossed in a two-week old cricket for it to munch. However, although the cricket was very small, it was still a little too big for the spider—or so I first thought. The spider jumped on the cricket a couple of times, but seemed to be trying to kick it away rather than feed on it. It then [the spider that is] retreated to the top of the cup and stayed there while the cricket explored the bottom.

A couple of hours later, after a leisurely dinner on the patio [by the family and I, not the spider], I grabbed my camera and the cup and went outside to shoot. I chose a large dead leaf from the lawn as a background. The spider was still at the top of the cup and the cricket was still milling around the bottom. I took the screen off the top and just as I went to shoo the spider out on the leaf it leapt the length (depth?) of the cup and tackled the cricket. So much for it being too big for the spider to catch!

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with the spider’s timing as I would like to have taken a few photos sans cricket first. But on the other hand it is much easier to corral these critters when they are hauling around an insect as big as they are.

Jumping spider (Phidippus sp.) feeding on a two-week old house cricket (Acheta domesticus). This photo was taken with a Zuiko 60mm macro lens + two extension tubes (10mm + 16mm). The magnification is approximately 1.5:1

And that brings me to the images themselves. I am really pleased with the quality of the light. Compare these photos with those I posted previously of another feeding Phidippus (see: A jumping spider joins the family BBQ) and I’m sure you will agree that these are superior. Of course the background and composition also makes a difference, but in general the quality of these later photos are (in my humble opinion) much better. I am particularly fond of the image at the top of the page. I love the composition and the way that the cricket is in focus for the length of the body. The spider had backed into a little cave made by the curled edge of the leaf and I really like the “feel” of the photo—if that makes any sense.

In my next post I’ll provide the details about the new flash set-up I used to take these photos. Yes, I know, my posts have been rather few and far between as of late. But I’ll write again promptly. After all, I’m unemployed now right? What else do I have to do?

Cheers,
EC

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus FL-36 flash (1/4 power)
ISO: 200

Video: tiny tropical harvestman eating midge

 

Juvenile Central American harvestman (Acromares vittatum) cleaning the tip of one of its legs. The harvestman had a leg span of approx. 15 mm.

Once again I’m writing about one critter eating another…

The video below shows a tiny juvenile Central American harvestmen (Acromares vittatum) very rapidly devouring a chironomid midge (like a mosquito that doesn’t bite). There are lots more photos to follow in a much longer blog…so consider this to be a bit of a teaser.

I shot this video last weekend on my kitchen table using 3 tabletop LCD lamps. Unfortunately I didn’t get the colour balance quite right so the video is a bit warm. I’d also like to use a lower ISO to get a higher resolution, but that would mean substantially brighter light, which I don’t know it the critters would tolerate. I need to experiment a bit more.

Cheers,
EC

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: aperture priority exposure (F11 @ 1/30 sec)
Lighting: 3 Ikea LCD lamps
ISO: automatic

Whip Scorpion Meets Cricket

Juvenile African whip scorpion (Damon diadema) feeding on a two week old cricket

I’ve come to realize that I take great pleasure in photographing animals when they are feeding…especially if the critter in question is a predator (and the food, obviously, is its prey). Part of the reason is simply the fact that “action” photos tend to be more interesting than portraits—but not always so easy to take. But I also just take inordinate pleasure in observing arthropods eating. That’s a little weird isn’t it?

A few weeks ago I received some nice captive bred juvenile Damon diadema whip scorpions from a breeder in Quebec. Whip scorpions (also known as the tailless whip scorpions) belong to the order Amblypygi which are found in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. D. diadema is one of the largest species with a leg span reaching about 20 cm (8 inches). The species ranges through Central and East Africa.

I “met” my first whip scorpion in the Amazon jungle one night back in the 90s. I shone my flashlight on this amazing beast as big as my hand and it was love at first sight.

My specimens are still very small, with a body length of approximately one centimeter and a leg span of a little more than a loonie (about 30 mm for those non-Canadians out there). The photo above is a nice picture of one of them making friends with a two week old cricket (aka dinner).

The photo couldn’t have been much easier to take. Each whip scorpion is housed in a clear plastic container (originally designed to sit in your fridge filled with baking soda) along with a large piece of bark and a moist substrate. The whip scorpions hang out on the nearly vertical bark. I set up my gear and waited until the critter was distracted by dinner. Then I just popped the top of the container off, and while holding the camera in one hand I lifted the bark up until the whip scorpion was clear of the plastic. Took the photo, and put the bark back. Easy-peasy!

These are great critters! And it’s always nice to see them enjoying their food. I guess that makes me either overly motherly or particularly demonic, depending on whether you are a whip scorpion or a cricket…

Cheers,
EC

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus RF-11 ring flash (TTL)
ISO: 200

Bumble bees mating update

A few posts ago I wrote about my experience with posting videos on YouTube over the past year (see: My year of posting videos—a little review). I noted at the time that my video entitled Bumble bees mating had been easily the most popular with 1649 views at the time. I also noted (unlike my other videos) the number of views of Bumble bees mating had been slowly but steadily increasing.

Well, I’m delighted, and somewhat mystified, to report that tread has continued. As of today, Bumble bees mating has now been viewed 3,246 times. Almost twice as many compared to when I last brought this up. There hasn’t been any real peak in views, just a slow trickle…an average of 40 views per day.

What really fascinates me is that only 1.5% of the views have been on the video imbedded in my blog. All the rest have been people watching on YouTube. What is even more surprising is that only 11% of the views have been referred from sites outside of YouTube (presumably my blog or a number of discussion forums I frequent). All the rest of the views have been from mobile apps and direct traffic (12%) or YouTube referrals (77%). In other words, people are mainly finding the video on YouTube and perhaps sharing it with others. I can’t help wonder how this works. Seriously, how many people search for videos about bumble bee sex?

Not that I’m complaining of course, it’s fun to check periodically and see that the number of views has gone up. I just don’t really understand why or how.

In any case, I really need to get off my butt and start shooting more video…

Cheers,
EC

A jumping spider joins the family BBQ

Juvenile Phiddipus jumping spider feeding on another spider (possibly a philodromid crab spider). Photographed with a Zuiko 6omm micro 4/3 macro lens

Last weekend I was enjoying the beautiful weather by preparing a nice BBQ dinner for the family. We had just sat down at the table (out on the deck) when my youngest son pointed out a “spider carrying another spider” (as he put it) on one of the deck posts. It turned out to be a jumping spider that had caught and was feeding on another spider. Naturally I wanted to take some photos, but seeing as we had just sat down to eat—and I am always after my boys to finish their dinner before jumping up to play with something—I opted to eat first and shoot later. So we all had dinner together: the humans ate sockeye salmon, nugget potatoes roasted in herbs and olive oil, Caesar salad, corn and a crisp white wine (yum!); while the arachnid feasted on its hapless cousin (tentatively identified as a philodromid crab spider). I have to admit it was a little torturous because the spider just sat on the post, a few feet away from me, the whole time. It munched while I munched and I expected any moment that it would finish and be on its way un-photographed.

Somewhat surprisingly the spider was still there when we finished eating (it even waited while I did the dishes). Then I was able to grab my camera and start shooting, and even more surprisingly the spider was quite cooperative…

Juvenile Phiddipus jumping spider feeding on another spider (possibly a philodromid crab spider). Photographed with a Zuiko 6omm micro 4/3 macro lens and 16mm + 10mm extension tubes.

Juvenile Phiddipus jumping spider feeding on another spider (possibly a philodromid crab spider). Photographed with a Zuiko 6omm micro 4/3 macro lens

At first, given the size of the spider I assumed it was an adult Salticus scenicus (zebra jumping spider) or Platycryptus californicus, both of which are pretty common in my back yard. But when I got a closer look through my camera lens I could see that it looked quite different from these other two species. It also behaved differently—not nearly as timid.

Juvenile Phiddipus jumping spider feeding on another spider (possibly a philodromid crab spider). Photographed with a Zuiko 6omm micro 4/3 macro lens and 16mm + 10mm extension tubes.

Juvenile Phiddipus jumping spider feeding on another spider (possibly a philodromid crab spider). Photographed with a Zuiko 6omm micro 4/3 macro lens

It turns out that the critter in question was a juvenile Phiddipus, a younger version of the jumping spider I photographed last summer feeding on a huge (compared to the spider) caterpillar (see: Macro big game hunting: a boreal jumping spider feeding on a western tent caterpillar). Apparently these spiders are pretty fierce predators for their size.

I have to admit to being a little bit uncertain about the species however. I identified the spider I photographed last summer as a boreal jumping spider (Phidippus borealis). But the spider I photographed last weekend looks identical to photos of a juvenile female red-backed jumping spider (Phidippus johnsoni) posted on Bugguide (http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740). It turns out that both P. borealis and P. johnsoni range into my area, and to be honest, I’m not so sure I can tell them apart. So do I have P. borealis or P. johnsoni in my yard? Or maybe both? At this point it’s a mystery…

A mystery that 99.99% of people really aren’t going to be concerned about! I’m really starting to sound like a nerd aren’t I? In any case, the photos turned out nice.

Cheers,
EC

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus RF-11 ring flash (1/2 power)
ISO: 200

Flyday April 11, 2014: the fantastic and fenominal filth fly!

 

Muscina sp., sometimes called a “filth fly”

I haven’t posted a “Flyday” for a very long time. Originally, my goal was to post a different fly photo every Friday [“Flyday”, get it?…Yeah, I know groan…], but I dropped that ball a long time ago. Sigh…

A little warning, if you are eating right now you might want to wait and read this blog after you have finished…

Muscina sp., sometimes called a “filth fly”

These pictures are of a specimen (or specimens, it’s hard to know) of Muscina. This is a small genus of flies (less than 30 species) that are found worldwide, commonly hanging around livestock facilities, restrooms, outhouses, cadavers…you can see where this going can’t you? Yup, many of these flies breed in manure and on corpses. As if that wasn’t enough, they also defecate on food and spread disease by transferring fecal material stuck to their feet to food or open wounds. Hence the common name “filth fly”. To be fair, “filth fly” seems to be a widespread term for any type of fly that is attracted to feces, urine or dead things and tends to also be applied to flesh flies (Sarcophagidae) and blow flies (Calliphoridae). Apparently another name for the Muscina is “disease-causing flies”, but that just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Muscina sp., sometimes called a “filth fly”

So how do you photograph these critters? Well, first you get some filth…

I took these pictures last summer the day after I had put out a piece of salmon carcass to attract flies to photograph (I do this quite often, see for example: Macro photographs of insects feeding on salmon: take 2). The salmon was long gone (thrown in the garbage after the shoot), but the “essence” of dead fish must have still been present on the wood the fish had rested on. Interestingly, the fresh fish had mainly attracted flesh flies, blow flies and yellow jacket wasps (Vespula sp.). But the next day (when the fish smell would have been rancid) it was these flies that were hanging around—along with the bald faced hornet that was trying to catch them. I wonder if that is the succession of arrivals at a corps too. I’ll have to check on that…

Anyhow, getting the shots was just a matter of patience—waiting for a fly to pause long enough, and in the right position for the picture. I shot at F11 as a compromise between depth of field and resolution.

Muscina sp., sometimes called a “filth fly”

I hope you agree that despite their rather unpleasant but ecologically very important natural history (well, maybe except for the whole defecating on food thing), they make for great photos!

Cheers,
EC

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/160 sec)
Lighting: Olympus flash (I don’t remember which one or the setting—oops!)
ISO: 200

Update: way back on Aug 23, 2012 I posted a couple of fly photos I created using photo stacking (see: More image stacking: portraits of flies). I originally misidentified one of the specimens as Calliphora vomitoria when it was actually Calliphora vicina. Many thanks to Marcello for leaving a comment that corrected my mistake. That post has now been updated with new information.

My year of posting videos—a little review

At about this time last year I bought my newest camera, an Olympus OM-D EM-5. One of the (many) attractions of this camera was the option of shooting high definition video—something I’d wanted to try my hand at for a long time. My goal was to complement my photography by producing high quality video of tiny critters to post on YouTube and my blog. Needless to say, video production is quite different from still photography and my learning curve has been steep. As a result (and due to the sheer lack of time) I have only created four videos, all of which I have shared on macrocritters.

My first video was: Western thatching ants in spring, March 2013 and it turned out painfully amateurish. I really can’t watch it without cringing a little [see blog here: My first attempt at video: western thatching ants in action]. The second was: Thai micro crab (Limnopilos naiyanetri) and was definitely better (at least I used a tripod this time) [see blog here: Portrait of a Thai micro crab]. My third video was: Bumble bees mating (of two half black bumble bees mating on my back deck last summer [see blog here: half black bumble bees mating]). This video was kind of fun to make [for me and the bees, badum tish…] as I edited different views and put it all to music. My final video (so far) was Charles goes on a zombie walk: my youngest son dressed as a zombie and interacting with other participants of the 2013 Vancouver Zombie Walk [see blog here: the 2013 Vancouver zombie walk]. This is easily my most ambitious and best video. I spent many hours working on the editing, selecting music and generally tinkering with the production. I consider it my magnum opus (so far) and actually still enjoy watching it. How can you go wrong with a video that has good music, a cute little boy and zombies?

So, after all these months I thought I’d present a little report card on how they have all been received on YouTube. As of today (April 8, 2014) their standings, from lowest numbers of views to highest are as follows:

In last place, with only 126 views is Charles goes on a zombie walk! I’m absolutely surprised at that! I guess good production, a cute little boy (and some cute if bloody girls) and zombies aren’t enough for the YouTube audience. Tough crowd.

In third place, with 380 views, is Western thatching ants in spring, March 2013 with 380 views. I bet all of the viewers are readers of this blog! Thanks folks!

In second place, with 766 views is Thai micro crab (Limnopilos naiyanetri. I have to admit, for21 seconds of footage of an obscure species of little crab, that doesn’t seem so bad!

Finally, in top spot (drum roll please) is: Bumble bees mating with an astonishing 1630 1649 views! Not only has it received far more views than any of the other videos, the number of views has been slowly but steadily increasing over the past few weeks. In fact, the number of views increased by 19 since I started writing this blog yesterday! A month ago there were less than 1000 views. Another cool thing is that if you google “half black bumble bee” the first three images that come up are of the same two bees and are from my blog (see ). That’s pretty cool! I guess the old adage is true, sex really does sell—even if it is between bees!

Cheers,
EC

Portrait of a bald-faced hornet

Portrait of a bald-faced hornet, Dolichovespula maculate. This species isn’t a true hornet; it is a type of yellowjacket wasp.

I have to say, I’m really digging this picture of a bald-faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata). The cool thing is that I barely remember taking it last summer. As I noted in my previous post, up until last week I hadn’t picked-up my camera for months. But I did a lot of shooting last summer and have quite a number of images stored on my computer. So I went into my files to find something to post. I was going through a series of photos of flesh flies that I just barely remember taking when I came upon this portrait. What a nice surprise! And how the heck did I forget about this image?

I love the details in the face! The textured white face and black markings make it look like it’s wearing a mask made from an animal skull. I’m also fascinated by the way the wasp is resting with its front legs off the ground. I’ve noticed before that these critters do this, but I have no idea why. Does it allow a quick getaway, or maybe keeps the front legs free to help capture prey? If anyone knows, please leave a comment.

The sad thing is that is has been so long, and I have been so distracted by other interests (see I’m Baaaack) that I don’t remember all the technical details about taking the photo. I know I shot it with the OM-D E-M5 using the 60mm macro lens. But I have no idea whether I was using the Olympus RF-11 ring flash or the Olympus FL-36 flash with diffuser. I’m pretty sure it was the ring flash, but I’m not sure. I guess that is another good thing about posting on my blog—it gives me a record of my photography to refer back to and augment my admittedly spotty memory.

Wait, what was I talking about?

Cheers,
EC

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/160 sec)
Lighting: Olympus flash (I don’t remember which one or the setting—oops!)
ISO: 200

Flyday August 23, 2013: portrait of a flesh fly

A flesh fly (Sarcophaga sp.) feeding on a salmon carcass.

When in doubt, post a picture of a flesh fly… 

There is no real story to go with this picture. It’s just another photo of a beautiful red-eyed flesh fly (Sarcophaga sp.) feeding on a salmon carcass. I’ve already posted once today, but it is Friday, and time to post another fly photo. This is probably the same species I posted on July 26, 2013 (see the fabulous flesh fly), but it wasn’t on the same piece of fish. This piece had been sitting out in the sun for a while and was quite dried out. 

I never get tired of photographing these critters. I just love the red eyes, white face and all those fantastic hairs (setae). 

Happy Flyday!
EC 

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/200 sec)
Lighting: Olympus RF-11 ring flash (1/4-1/2 power)
ISO: 200

Video: half-black bumble bees mating

Where I make my first porno film… 

A pair of half-black bumble bees (Bombus vagans) mating on the rug on the deck in my backyard. They were attached and in this spot for over an hour.

We had just finished dinner a couple of days ago when my youngest son (six) looked out through the sliding glass door and told me that there was a really big bug out on the deck. At first I just thought it was a leaf moving in the breeze (my eyes not being what they once were). But when I looked closer I realized that what he had actually spotted were two connected insects: a pair of half-black bumble bees (Bombus vagans) busily mating. 

A pair of half-black bumble bees (Bombus vagans) mating. Note the impressive stinger exhibited by the queen.

The bees were right in the open on the rug that covers most of the deck. It didn’t provide the most natural looking background, but at least it made for easy photography. The bees were rather focused on their activity and were completely oblivious to me, so after I took a few pictures, I decided to shoot some video. I couldn’t have had much more cooperative subjects. The only real challenge was that the sun was starting to go down and the light was dropping rapidly. So I shot most of the video using a small portable video light in an attempt to stop the lens down as far as I could and maximize the depth of field. In retrospect I should have increased the ISO and gained even more depth of field. I am just so used to shooting for higher resolution that I just never think of playing with the sensitivity.

In any case, and without further ado, I give you my latest video attempt: 

The video is really a bit silly, and the staff of National Geographic has no reason to be worried (yet). But it was fun to produce and I learned a lot about video editing. And I am inordinately proud of the opening “macrocritters” graphic I designed! 

Cheers
EC
PS: I was really surprised at the size of the stinger the queen had! I always think of bumble bees as being completely inoffensive, but she was packing some impressive armament! I don’t know exactly how long her stinger was, but she was about an inch long (25mm). Apparently when the stinger is not needed it is hidden inside the bumble bee’s last abdominal segment. I guess it was necessary to extend it under the, um, circumstances. Drones don’t have a stinger.

The technical stuff:
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M5
Lens: Zuiko 60mm micro four thirds macro
Still photos:
   Settings: manual exposure (F11 @ 1/250 sec)
   Lighting: Olympus RF-11 ring flash (1/4-1/2 power)
   ISO: 200
Video:
  Settings: shutter priority exposure (@ 1/50 sec shutter speed)
  Lighting: Natural light + small video light hand-held
  ISO: 200