CLARIFICATION. (16/04/15)

The van is fast becoming like Noah’s Ark. It is now home to a ground beetle, a ground beetle lava, a weevil, a house spider, two dogs and me. The trouble with the insects is that I’m so busy trying to focus on them that the little devils keep escaping. I expect they will turn up again so not to worry. Todays images are not good. but I am doing my best. I could have improved the spider and the Weevil but the little buggers fled the set. It’s very nice being surrounded by animals.

The problem is focus. I can’t seem to get my head round using live view so I got a prismatic focusing screen for the 1Ds. It took me ages to get used to it but now I wouldn’t use anything else for hand held macro.This morning I saw another of what I thought was a centipede type thing with a few legs missing. Whilst I was rooting in my jacket for the pot it disappeared and despite finding the pot in my trousers pocket and a good furtle about in rotten wood and earth I couldn’t find The little beast again.

I decided to e-mail Dr Gates and thanks Phil for a very quick reply. Phil has several wonderful blogs and is a vast source of knowledge. I just wish I could remember a tenth of the things he has informed me about. His main Blog can be found here at CABINET OF CURIOSITIES.

This is…………………………………….

   The lava of one of these………………………………

     A Common Black Ground Beetle. Tachypodoilus niger. I thought the lava was very mobile for a paraplegic baby insect but having watched the paraplegic games I was quite prepared to accept it had overcome it’s loss. It is supposed to have lots of legs missing as it isn’t a millipede or a centipede or even a symphylid; it’s a lava. Thank you once again Phil.

It was frosty last night and I thought I’d found a dead bumblebee to focus stack. I left it on my mouse mat whilst I had a brew and noticed a leg moving. I fetched it a sprig of flowers and gave it a drink of honey and water and it was soon tame. Not tame enough to sit and stay but then Alf and Moll aren’t. It did stick it’s tongue out to drink and get pollen or nectar from the flower but by the time I’d twigged that the removal of a flower petal would have improved the shot of it dinning it was buzzing about and not in the mood to be flashed at. Here she is…………….

     Stuffing her ungrateful face.

      This is she covered in pollen and honey juice. I quite like this shot but hate those bloody catch lights from the strobes. I’m thinking of getting a soft box tent thingy; has anyone used one? I’m thinking I could set multiple strobes up as I have three Pocket Wizard machines to fire them and I could pop a leaf or twig behind. It would look better than a bit of scribble pad and the orange glow is a plastic lid I popped her drink in. Nearly forgot; she is an Early Bumblebee Worker. Bombus pratorum. Before I got into Phil's blogs and nature I thought using Latin names was just Bombustic. It makes sense to me now…………not really but the only knowledge I get is from folk that can differentiate between fifty or so little things that look the same even if I take the time to look. Most do it for nothing so I am getting used to using what they use and loving every minute.

Things are at last warming up here. The first Swallow arrived on Sunday but didn’t stay. Six males arrived yesterday but I haven’t seen them today. Carole loves animals but hates swallows crapping on her head from the rafters in the stables. She found me these though she dislikes spiders. Good lass.

    It looks dead but is still alive somewhere in the van. By jeezus it was quick. This is at 1:1 not cropped as I don’t crop macros or wildlife. I so rarely know what I’ve clicked I want to give folk a fair chance at an ID. I know this one it’s a House spider. Tegenaria summat. What the something is I’ll leave to those that know. It is almost in focus so worth a click. It is a bit fuzzy but I’ll get one perfect one day and what is more it will scuttle away.

Carole then caught me a Weevil. It runs fast but is smaller than a spider so a bit easier.

        Vine Weevil,  Otiorhynchus sulcatius. I had to tell my sister that it would be let loose. She causes more environmental damage buying from garden centres than these will ever do.

      I gave it nothing so why is it being sick. Maybe it doesn’t like me. It will have to get used to as it’s somewhere in the truck but I know three ladies who never did. I can’t remember them being sick on the floor though one was sick for weeks when she had a bunny in the oven. Silly girl, silly Weevil.

Silly Adrian but I enjoy the half inch world.