The COOL-ass bug thread

I’ve more …

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

1 Like

This one I named … ‘biker bug’ … looks like biker on a chopper …

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

very cool bugs belgian, all in Taiwan? Do you happen to know what species that yellow spider? I have been unable to find it anywhere.

I assume Gasteracantha sp. but that group seems pretty understudied, at least as a whole/in Asia

I have a theory that some animals were placed on this earth simply to be amusing, and to remind us humans that “purpose” is not a one-dimensional thing. Pandas, for example :slight_smile:

[quote=“Belgian Pie”]

Can’t go more cool-ass than this …

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4[/quote]

Fantastic shots!!! What kit do you use?

My kit … home made DIY secret … lens, tubes … build in flash … cardboard light distributor … Sony A700, A100

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

1 Like

Another cool-ass … tiny bug, real tiny …

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Belgian pie… wow… real top class stuff… from both actors and the director.

Those bugs are just incredible to look at close up.

You got the golden turtle mating, you can see the striped pattern on the back of the male (?), their colour changes during mating, so if you had taken a series of photos you might have caught that! One theory is they turn golden to signal they are ready for mating (or the other way around).

They got away …

Sent from my MI 2S using Tapatalk

crazy pictures. do you have names for any of them?

you use a lens flash or off teh cam?

is that stabbing guy some kind of assassin bug? in Taiwan? fantastic shots!

No idea, I’m not an entomologist, just a photographer … old lens (Minolta) … macro tubes … on board flash, it’s a special DIY set-up … it works

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

damn, certifiably works. getting them flying, are you a professional by chance?

do you use hellicon (sp?) or something to stack photos? whenever i use tubes i have the DOF equivalent to a business card…

Actually I am, or was … kind of freelance now … depth of field is low in macro … at f11 to f16 it’s ok for most … I don’t use any software or stacking … nearly impossible with insects … they move and wind is an issue too … one word patience

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

1 Like

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

[quote=“Belgian Pie”]

[/quote]

This one’s really a stunner.

i am simply amazed at how much DOF you get with those, even with f16, i never come close. Guess thats why you get paid for your pictures :slight_smile:

i have not the tools, skills, or stomach to take such beautiful pictures of bugs… but here’s one

saw this little bugger on a trail in Nantou. it’s about 2 meters long, and at first I thought it was a twig. But then it started wiggling its head, if one can call it that, around.

I was frakking terrified…

After inquiring some knowledgeable peoples and googling, I’ve learnt it’s called a nematomorpha, aka gordiacea, aka horsehair worms, aka hair snake, aka gordian worms, or in Chinese 鐵線蟲 Iron wire worms. It’s a parasite.

Its parents lays eggs in water, and usually their young will live inside insects, often praying mantis, when they come to drink water. They will then grown inside its host, feeding off of it. When it gets old enough to mate, it will then produce some sort of poison, making its host desperate to get into water, then it will exist the host. Sometimes peacefully through the rear hole, sometimes they just rip open the host’s body. They then go lay eggs in the water so their young can feed on other hosts.

It can also live in human’s privates if you cross unclean water…

:s :astonished: man…

1 Like