Assassin Bug
James R. Newman perfectly captures the saw-toothed wheel on the back of this wheel bug,which is one of the largest species of assassin bug. He has this to say:
I was out in the back yard, playing with the new camera (you know:
“Shiny!”) when I caught a hint of movement on the dog’s old water bowl. It
was this assassin bug, which had apparently decided that if it moved slowly
enough, I wouldn’t notice. It didn’t move any faster as I got closer, but
the antennae did move a bit more, like it was trying to figure out what the
large circle in front of it was.
Great shot, James! Thanks!
Slowly getting the site back onto an even keel. It's nice to get back into the old posting rhythm.
JFargo said,
August 20, 2008 @ 9:33 am
Looking at an Assassin Bug, I’d never guess at how painful their bite/injection (supposedly) is. I mean, they just look like bugs to me, whereas a bee or wasp (especially a wasp) looks like some version of flying pain.
Love the picture, James. The camera seems to be working for you! What kind did you get, if you don’t mind me asking?
tceisele said,
August 20, 2008 @ 10:14 am
Speaking of what kind of camera did he get, you know what would be a really cool addition to the site, now that there are so many people contributing pictures? Have all the images tagged by contributor, so that readers can quickly find all the pictures submitted by, say, JFargo. And, when possible, add some information about what kind of camera each person was using. Then, people coming by the site who want to get started in insect photography can quickly compare how the different kinds of camera perform, and decide which one they should get for the kinds of bugs they want to photograph.
James said,
August 20, 2008 @ 11:40 am
Thank you.
I don’t mind the question. I got a Canon Rebel XTi. I had always wanted a digital SLR and a recently dropped Kodak Easyshare gave me an excuse. Now all I need is a macro lens (and a zoom lens, and a nicer flash, and a wide-angle lens, and …).
And I think you’re right. Mother Nature should make more use of the yellow/red/black color scheme to warn about “here there be pain”. I was quite unconcerned about bothering this one. The only reason I didn’t bump it with my lens while trying to get a closer shot is because the lens wouldn’t focus there.
AJ said,
August 20, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
” which had apparently decided that if it moved slowly enough, I wouldn’t notice.”
My cat does this. It’s very amusing!
I also really like the idea of including camera info and photographer tags.
ziyda said,
August 20, 2008 @ 2:18 pm
Really enjoyed this photo! Another creature I have never seen (I have only seen smaller assassin bugs). The focus is in a perfect place. : )
MacNut said,
August 20, 2008 @ 8:47 pm
Having camera and especially lens info would be useful. I tried taking a few bug shots with my digital camera but could not get anywhere near the level of detail in them that shows up here, so obviously I need a different lens (macro?)
Parkway said,
August 21, 2008 @ 6:38 am
It’s a nice shot - with the focus centered on the bugs back you can see where the ends just slip out of focus, but the detail is amazing.
I’ve read the theories about apperture size and depth of field, and a lot of cameras save all the details along with the picture:
If you right-click on the photo, choose ’save as’ and save it somewhere local, then browse to it in windows explorer, right-click and choose ‘Properties’, then look for the ‘Summary’ tab and the ‘Advanced’ button, you’ll see that it was taken with a Cannon EOS Digital Rebel, with a shutter speed of 1/200 sec, Aperture F/5.6, focal length 55mm and ISO-800. I don’t think it can tell you anything about which lens was on there at the time though.
(Sorry that only works for right-handed people using Windows XP, but you get the idea)
Some image-editing software throws that information away when you save the picture, which is a pain, but it can give you a few clues which setting to change to get different results. Your camera might not behave the same way though - I know my Panasonic DMC-FZ8 introduces lots of noise at higher ISO settings, but the Cannon is clearly a better performer.
Alan said,
August 21, 2008 @ 8:55 am
If you are browsing the web with Firefox ( http://www.firefox.com ), let me suggest the FxIF extension ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5673 ) which shows any EXIF data present in local or remote images by right-clicking on the image in question and selecting ‘Properties’.
Alan
JFargo said,
August 21, 2008 @ 10:23 am
Thanks for the link, Alan. I think I’ve seen it linked before, and never took the 10 seconds to install it. That will definitely come in handy!
Erin said,
August 23, 2008 @ 6:29 am
Shouldn’t the assassin bugs be tagged “venomous?”