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  • Welcome to the new site. Here's a thread about the update where you can post your feedback, ask questions or spot those nasty bugs!

macro

  1. Robert Watcher

    Wood Louse

    Visiting our friends this afternoon —— their grandchildren were busy in the back yard, collecting bugs and worms from under stumps and rocks. The kids were showing them to me and pulled out this absolutely minuscule little circle that they seemed to be aware was called a “potato bug”...
  2. Robert Watcher

    Miniatures

    Miniatures. Up close and personal. Everything under 1/2 - 3/4 in. Inexpensive kit lens with extension tubes. Processed on iPhone
  3. Robert Watcher

    Bizarre Coloured Roses

    INDOOR MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY Our daughter gave Anne a couple of coloured roses from the craft show that she attended. They are sitting on our kitchen island, so while Anne was away this morning I put my adapted macro lens with a couple of shorter extension tubes, onto my Olympus camera. For light...
  4. Paul Iddon

    Pseudoscorpion

    I've never seen one before - which considering how large it was (maybe 2mm) you'd think they would be easy to find - but not for me. This one was on my recycling bin tonight... Pseudoscorpions, also known as false scorpions or book scorpions, are small, scorpion-like arachnids belonging to the...
  5. Robert Watcher

    The smallest bee ever

    The smallest bee ever on Anne’s back porch flowers this morning. These little pink flowers aren’t much bigger than 1/4” across and the bee was smaller than that. It may be a “Confusing Furrow Bee” which has sizes of 1/8th to 1/4 inch. Almost invisible creatures around that we don’t pay much...
  6. Paul Iddon

    Getting closer to the wasps...

    I took an environmental photo first of a couple of wasps on an a fallen apple, then once I was happy that they were happy, I went in closer. Paul.
  7. Paul Iddon

    Steatoda bipunctata, Lithobius forficatus, and a Peribaodes rhomnoidaria

    I love photographing spiders even false widows... :) - this one is a rabbit-hutch spider - Steatoda bipunctata. Often seen indoors and in animal pens, garages, sheds, etc. Loves eating woodlice! Then there is one of my pet hates - Lithobius forficatus, most commonly known as the garden...
  8. Paul Iddon

    2 spiders and chalcid wasp.

    Two spiders out of the dozen or so that were on the fence the other night. First is a male rabbit hutch spider (Steatoda bipuncta - one of the false widows) and the other two are of a silver-sided sector female (Zygiella x-notata) making herself a meal of a midge. Following those are couple of...
  9. Paul Iddon

    The Beauty and the Beast - and the savagery of nature

    I actually felt dismayed as this sequence unfolded, but that's the way nature goes. On a small piece of rock covered in moss, the "beast" waited patiently, and the "beauty" just didn't seem to notice her, and succumbed to the bigger hunter... Amaurobius sp. and Salticus scenicus...
  10. Paul Iddon

    Vapourer cat, a mini-moth and spiders on the apple tree

    The apple tree was fruitful last night (more in other thread). Here are the first few - a vapourer moth caterpillar, a golden tortix moth, and 2 spiders. Paul.
  11. Paul Iddon

    Other apple tree dwellers

    I said the tree was fruitful last night - these are more of the discoveries... Ladybird prep, a caddis fly variant (Limnephilus flavicornis) and another sleeping tapered dronefly (Eristalis pertinax) and 2 different green lacewings. Paul.
  12. Paul Iddon

    Pleased with this bee!

    We got a small bee hotel in autumn last year and I have placed it on the wall in the garden and let it become naturalised. Now I'm pleased as punch to find a red mason bee taking up residence. Paul.
  13. Paul Iddon

    A few from Sunday night

    Good to see a few arrivals around the garden area - I've seen few (not been looking that much to be fair) but the nicer weather and warmer nights are bringing the guests out... A mayfly (imago stage)... Supper for a Neriene montana spider and 2 others (one is looking gravid)...
  14. Paul Iddon

    Fence dwellers tonight

    Took a quick look at the garden fence panels and there were a few chance moments... First, one of the resident rabbit hutch spiders (Steatoda bipunctata) - these are very reactive to movement - touch the fence panel and they rush back into hiding... Next an unfortunate sun fly (Helophilus...
  15. Paul Iddon

    Soon be time for more insects - in the meantime....

    ... here is a spider in my outhouse/shed.... Paul.
  16. Will Thompson

    Post your backyard macro pics!

  17. Paul Iddon

    Small beetle

    Found this little brown beetle today - I think it is Notiophilus sp. Paul.
  18. Paul Iddon

    Paroligolophus agrestis

    This is one of the shorter legged opiliones - the Paroligolophus agrestis. It often lives in trees but can also be found in ground vegetation. Paul.
  19. Paul Iddon

    An (as usual) skittish Globby

    Like most, this globular springtail didn't want to sit still, but instead kept meandering around making it a pain to capture in the best pose... Dicyrtomina saundersi is a small globular springtail around only 2 or 3 mm. It has quite distinctive markings of pale greeny yellow and maroon...
  20. Paul Iddon

    Warmer tonight

    The cold freeze has gone, and it's much warmer tonight, so I thought I would have a quick look in the garden (around 11pm-ish).. There wasn't much in all honesty, but I managed 3 photo's. First is a woodlice which I suspect is not the victim in the photo... As well as decaying wood, common...
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