I found these Ropalidia species of paper wasps, on a dry twig in my garden. I was using my Canon EOS 70D with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, lit by Canon MT-24EX macro twin light flash with a DIY diffuser to capture these wasps and their nest. The social wasp genus Ropalidia, … Read more
I found these major workers of Weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) hunting a nymph of a cockroach. As these nymphs grow they are compelled to moult their cuticle, a process known as Ecdysis. After moulting, an arthropod is described as teneral, a callow; it is fresh, pale and soft-bodied. They are pretty vulnerable to attack by … Read more
I found a bunch of Blue Mud Dauber wasps in my garden sleeping on a dry vine. These Blue Mud Daubers, Chalybion bengalense are pretty common blue household wasps we encounter at home. Even though these are solitary wasps, males have a habit of sleeping in a group together. I was using my Canon EOS … Read more
I found this Flat-head Leafhopper Nymph belonging to Ledrinae Subfamily of diverse leafhopper family Cicadellidae in my garden. While photographing it jumped on to my trousers. I was not sure which was its host plant. The leafhopper also looked pretty transparent and was having a very good camouflage. To highlight that transparency, I decided to … Read more
I found this caterpillar of Common Grass Yellow on Peacock Flower in my garden. This looked like the 5th Instar of the caterpillar stage. I was using a Canon EOS 5DS R with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens, illuminated by Godox Ving V860c E-TTL Li-ion Flash with LumiQuest SoftBox III to capture … Read more
To create the above image I used two filters from Topaz labs – Topaz Glow 2 and the Topaz Impression 2. I used the first image used in my last blog – Suffused Double-banded Judy I combined two filters for the look. I wanted to enhance the look of the butterfly without distorting the feel. … Read more