Ted Kinsman is a scientific photographer that specializes in creating images for books, magazines, and television. His particular areas of interest are in x-ray radiography, high-speed photography, Scanning electron microscopy, and time-lapse cinematography. His work has appeared in numerous books and magazines ranging from Discover Magazine to Forbes. Recently his work has appeared on Gray's Anatomy and CSI New York. In addition to running 
B.N. (Bobbie) Sullivan has a strong affinity for the sea and everything in it. She first learned to dive in 1970 and has since logged thousands of dives. A wish to document the marine life she encountered prompted her to learn underwater photography more than 20 years ago. More recently, she began to write about the marine life she has photographed. A research psychologist by profession, she approaches her subject matter with the mindset of a scientist, but targets her writing to a general readership in whom she hopes to foster an appreciation for the ocean and its inhabitants.
B Jefferson Bolender is Training Coordinator of the State of Arizona's
program for disability awareness and assistive technology. Through
her travels she always has a camera at hand to photograph everything
from people to technology and nature. As a teacher of elementary
education, special education and art, her interests include a wide
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Steve Jurvetson enjoys rocketry and photography and especially the pursuit of both in the Black Rock Desert. Some action photos and video links can be found 
Alex Wild is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he works on the molecular phylogenetics of various groups of insects. He is also a part-time photographer whose images appear in such venues as Ranger Rick, Smithsonian, BBC Wildlife, and even ScienceBlogs.
...these would be the beetles of choice.
showing size and horn variation among males.
Dung beetles in the widespread genus Onthophagus sport a bewildering array of horns. Not only do the horns of different species vary in shape, size, and the body part from which they grow, many species show a marked dimorphism within the males.
Consider these two male morphs of O. nigriventris, an African species:
The big guy on the right is a major male, and he does pretty much what you'd expect. He bullies his way around with shows of bravado, guarding his burrows with impressive weaponry and beating up on lesser males in hope of monopolizing the females. The lesser-endowed guy on the left is a minor male, and as you might guess he's not much of a fighter. He is small, agile, and sneaky, gaining access to females on the sly. Indeed, he even looks a lot like a female, perhaps enough to fool the brutes.
As it turns out, the two morphs are developmental variants. Large male larvae have the resources to grow the massive horn and metamorphose into effective fighters. Small male larvae don't gain anything by growing the horn, as they're destined to lose out in any confrontations with other males. So at a particular point in development they shunt their limited resources into testes instead of horns.
And the female herself? Here she is!
The fantastic variation within and among Onthophagus species have made the genus a biologist's playground. These dung beetles are an exemplary system where behavior, ecology, development, and phylogeny can be integrated to form a comprehensive picture of the evolution of novel traits. I can't cover all the research here, but instead I'll point you in the direction of dung beetle gurus Doug Emlen and Armin Moczek(*).
Another shot of the O. nigriventris major male:
Here's O. gazella, an African beetle that's been introduced worldwide to help manage cattle dung:
Finally, another O. taurus male. Go Longhorns!
(*)my thanks to secret sources deep within the Moczek lab who arranged the O. nigriventris and O. taurus for a photo shoot last weekend.
photographic notes:
The images with the plain backdrop were done in a white box.
What's a white box? Exactly what it sounds like: a large cardboard box colored white on the inside. It's a mini-studio for insects. When I fire a strobe inside the box, the box flashes with a lovely diffuse white. It gives enough light for a good fast exposure but without the glare of a point-source. Perfect for capturing the intricate sculpture of a beetle's integument.
Life Science
Comments
Cool pics. Thanks.
Posted by: eNeMeE | April 18, 2009 2:15 PM
Outstanding pictures.
Posted by: Art | April 18, 2009 3:47 PM
Have I told you yet how much this blog rocks?
Posted by: PalMD | April 18, 2009 5:52 PM
Thanks guys! Glad you like them.
Posted by: Alex | April 19, 2009 9:08 AM
These are really outstanding photos. I'm very impressed with how you captured the colours of the cuticle. Might have to build myself a white box to have a play with.
I have been doing some work on O. taurus recently - they are not only spectacular beetles, they are also amazingly strong. Need to write that paper.
Cheers
Rob Knell
Posted by: Rob Knell | April 19, 2009 1:48 PM
Speaking of white boxes... Do you take requests? Could you post some pics of your equipment? How big is a white box? Do you have several, for different sizes of shots? How near are the strobes? I think I can picture quite a bit based on your descriptions, but I would love to see that the tracing paper on the flash is held on with duct tape, or neatly cut cello tape, or wrinkled and held to the flash with a rubber band...
I love the photos, I love the descriptions... I love reading of the ratios of how many shots you took to how many you considered usable!
Posted by: Anon | April 23, 2009 7:40 PM
Alex:
I know very little about dung beetles. Much of what I do know I learned from one of your compatriots there at U of I, Dr. Jim Nardi. What a coincidence I should stumble onto this website. Please say hello to Jim for me. Ralph Voss
Posted by: Ralph Voss | May 6, 2009 2:44 AM
Anyone have dung beetles to sell, I have a pasture that I'm trying to reclaim from the top soil being stripped. My cattle leave plenty of dung but it just dries out and blows away. I thought the DB's would help reestablish the lost humus.
Thanks, Bob
Posted by: Bob Sedlak | May 17, 2009 6:30 PM
I am an American living in Kenya, and I came across your site as I was trying to classify a beetle my kids find in the yard. I believe it's a dung beetle of sorts. We actually find various species. I enjoyed your photo tips bc I had a difficult time capturing the 'dudu's' detail. Thanks!
Posted by: Kate | September 16, 2009 9:32 AM
Onthophagus taurus dung beetles is now became world strongest insects in the world - i have added in my blog world amazing records - really amazing pictures you snaps.
Appreciated.....
Posted by: World Amazing Records | March 25, 2010 3:36 AM
I learned from one of your compatriots there at U of I, Dr. Jim Nardi. What a coincidence I should stumble onto this website. Please say hello to Jim for me. Ralph Voss
thanks...very nice post
Posted by: oyun hilesi | May 14, 2010 1:21 AM