Giant Water Bug

awild — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:12:03 +0000

Giant Water Bug

Belostoma sp. water bug, Illinois

I'm so used to taking photos of fast-moving ants and beetles that a sedentary insect comes as something of a relief.Â Instead, the challenge with this Belostoma giant water bug was lighting the shot.

Aquariums are prone to reflections and dust on the glass.Â I arranged a diffused flash above the tank, positioned behind the glass so as not to leave a reflection by illuminating the camera.

Photo details: Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D

ISO 100, f/8.0, 1/200 sec, diffused overhead flash

awild Tue, 11/24/2009 - 19:12

Tags

Nature

belostomatidae

hemiptera

insects

Photography

IT not Friday Alex you got your day mixed up :)))))

True bug, not a beetle, so we still have something to look forward to.

Great shots!

Very nice shots! I'd like to see what you could do with a Lethocerus.

~Kai

Fantastic, as usual. I know you know, but it's still
nice to hear it. We are never so harsh as when we judge ourselves.

I dunno for how long, though. I'm running dangerously low on both beetle photos and the time to go out and photograph new ones. At this rate I might have to resort to linking to Ted MacRae every Friday instead...

Oddly enough, the larger the insect the harder it is for me to photograph it well. The sets start becoming simply enormous- perhaps a whole foot or more across(!)- and that's a lot of extra prep work compared to the miniature sets needed for tiny subjects. So Belostoma is easier than Lethocerus.

I do have this shot of a Lethocerus out of water. It's not doing anything terribly exciting, though. Someday I'll get one of those dramatic predation shots where it's eating a toddler. Or something.

It's kind of like Friday here, though. We have the long Thanksgiving weekend starting tomorrow.

Attractive critter. These are very good shots!

Did you hand hold the flash heads above the water? Also, you've mentioned your tissue diffuser setup doesn't work with the 100mm, so how did you diffuse the flash?

I just think these are really awesome shots!

How to Identify Belostomatids

awild — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:25:19 +0000

How to Identify Belostomatids

Lethocerus sp., California

I don't know how I missed it when it came out, but The Dragonfly Woman has a post up on how to identify the three North American genera of giant water bugs.Â Check it out.

awild Wed, 09/16/2009 - 07:25