Snout mites again

[Paul Iddon]

I have to say, when I find these bugs seen below, I get quite excited at the chase!

They constantly and I mean constantly move, unless stopping for food.

At best they are 2 or 3mm, and it seems there might be 2 different ones here, but it could just be the innards are showing in #3

Once again - the snout mites "Bdellidae".

Paul.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Paul,

So fascinating!

Yes, it looks like the gut is showing.

But also there appears to be bilateral ducts which exit the body,

or are they spiracles?

Asher

 

[Paul Iddon]

Thanks Asher.

They need looking at by an entomologist I think to determine the finer details - way above my abilities!

Paul.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Well your pictures are so splendidly detailed, that they invite further enquiry!

These are no longer merely weird nuisance “bugs”, but now fascinating micro-marvelous machines!

 

[Paul Iddon]

Well your pictures are so splendidly detailed, that they invite further enquiry!

These are no longer merely weird nuisance “bugs”, but now fascinating micro-marvelous machines!

...and you could even find one or two on close inspection of your surroundings - they are abundant in many habitats and are diverse, but relatively poorly known. They hunt on surfaces for small invertebrate prey which they suck dry with their distinctive snout.

Paul.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Since they are 1-2mm in size, please give me a beginner’s guide on how to locate them and what lenses I need. I have a 50mm macro and extension tubes and a ring flash and a macro stage with bellows but never used it except for portraits and skin or oral cancers!

Asher

 

[Paul Iddon]

Ah, well, you'll need to go out late at night with a small torch and look on various surfaces in the garden. Watch for little red dots twirling across a 12 inch or so area - they never seem to travel far once you see one - and with 2 of your tubes try to see it on your live view screen and do your best to follow it's constant mobile movement. Hold your breath and as it gets toward the in focus area of the surface, push the button and hope it comes into the focal range and you nail one!

Not easy, believe me!

Paul.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Ah, well, you'll need to go out late at night with a small torch and look on various surfaces in the garden. Watch for little red dots twirling across a 12 inch or so area - they never seem to travel far once you see one - and with 2 of your tubes try to see it on your live view screen and do your best to follow it's constant mobile movement. Hold your breath and as it gets toward the in focus area of the surface, push the button and hope it comes into the focal range and you nail one!

Not easy, believe me!

Paul.

Do you use focus bracket?

 

[Paul Iddon]

Do you use focus bracket?

Absolutely not.

I take one shot, and endeavor to keep the sharpest point at what I want to show the viewer. I like the limited DoF that macro naturally creates, though I appreciate focus stacking has it's place, and I have used it on the odd rare occasion in the distant past.

But no, my world of macro is the solitary photograph in all its minimalist focus.

Paul.

 

[Asher Kelman]

The last shot EXIF is recorded as f=0, but what was it?

Asher

 

[Paul Iddon]

Either f/8 or f/11.

There are no contacts whatsoever on the Venus lens - so it always records f/00

Paul.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Either f/8 or f/11.

There are no contacts whatsoever on the Venus lens - so it always records f/00

Paul.

What’s the focal length, and how come you chose that one?

 

[Paul Iddon]

It's the LAOWA Venus 2:1 60mm lens.

Why did I buy it? I couldn't afford a Canon 100mm. The problem (or not) was the Venus is full manual, but having used manual lenses back in the day of film and prism viewfinders, I figured I would manage once I got used to not having any auto-focusing.

After a couple of weeks of 100 photos and 3 keepers, I began to get the hang of manually focusing on something a fraction of an inch in size, and I have never looked back.

Paul.