# A bunch of flies & others.



## orionmystery (Sep 28, 2011)

A robber fly with prey - froghopper. You can see bubbles in the head of the prey. More robber flies here:






A cotton stainer bug (?)...and an unidentified flying insect on top right, phoridae fly?





A male fly (Calliphoridae > Rhinia apicalis?) with beautiful eyes, on my finger. Slightly cropped on the right.





Longest natural light exposure ever, 5 seconds! It was windy and the fly was moving...but somehow this shot came out ok.





Signal fly, Platystomatidae, a species of Loxonevra near decora Fabricius (From DI forum)...too big for the MPE65.





annoying mossie





not sure what fly


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## Tomasko (Sep 28, 2011)

Simply stunning


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## StringThing (Sep 28, 2011)

Truly amazing!


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## Forkie (Sep 28, 2011)

The first one is quite incredible.  To see the bubbles in his head is fascinating.  Presumably, they're air bubbles getting in through the puncture wound made by the Robber?

How do you light these, by the way?

Also, are these single shots or are they stacked multiple shots?

I have a fascination with these insect macros.  I'm forever searching for them on Flickr!  It's something I'd love to get into but alas, cannot afford the lenses and lighting for it for the foreseeable.  Keep them coming!


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## orionmystery (Sep 28, 2011)

Tomasko said:


> Simply stunning


 


StringThing said:


> Truly amazing!


 


Forkie said:


> The first one is quite incredible.  To see the bubbles in his head is fascinating.  Presumably, they're air bubbles getting in through the puncture wound made by the Robber?
> 
> How do you light these, by the way?
> 
> ...



Thanks for looking and commenting, Tomasko, StringThing, Forkie.

Forkie -  From wikipedia: The short, strong proboscis is used to stab and inject victims with saliva containing neurotoxic and proteolytic enzymes which paralyze and digest the insides; the fly then sucks the liquefied meal through the proboscis. The bubbles you see should be the liquified internal of the prey.

All single shots, unstacked. Although all taken with the MPE65 (except #4), you can get similar result with a cheap tamron sp90. You don't need expensive lighting either. A single 270ex (or equivalent) will do just fine:

270EX for Macro - improved version. | Up Close with Nature


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## Derrel (Sep 28, 2011)

*OUTSTANDING* first photo! The subsequent photographs are also quite good.


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## cgipson1 (Sep 28, 2011)

Forkie said:


> I have a fascination with these insect macros.  I'm forever searching for them on Flickr!  It's something I'd love to get into but alas, cannot afford the lenses and lighting for it for the foreseeable.  Keep them coming!



Forkie.... do you have a 50mm or a 35? Get some extension tubes (even cheap ones) or a Raynox DCR-250 ($80)... you would be surprised what you can do. If you already have a flash, you are good to go.... just need to diffuse it (can even be on camera, although that isn't best). A short TTL extension cord would work great, and they aren't expensive. Just some ideas!


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## cgipson1 (Sep 28, 2011)

Kurt, Lovely shots! That first one is really cool...


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## Forkie (Sep 28, 2011)

cgipson1 said:


> Forkie said:
> 
> 
> > I have a fascination with these insect macros.  I'm forever searching for them on Flickr!  It's something I'd love to get into but alas, cannot afford the lenses and lighting for it for the foreseeable.  Keep them coming!
> ...



I _*DO*_ have a 50mm!  Thread bookmarked.  I shall look into this.

Thanks cgipson!


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## orionmystery (Sep 29, 2011)

Thanks for looking and commenting, Derrel, Charlie.


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## dry3210 (Oct 1, 2011)

The fly on your finger has some wicked eyes.  Great clarity


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## orionmystery (Oct 2, 2011)

dry3210 said:


> The fly on your finger has some wicked eyes.  Great clarity



Thanks dry3210. Yes, love his eyes.


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## DennyCrane (Oct 2, 2011)

I can't say how amazing all these shots are. Very inspiring.


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## jedensuscg (Oct 3, 2011)

I can barely get non-living subjects to stand still that long...nice shots.


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## orionmystery (Oct 3, 2011)

DennyCrane said:


> I can't say how amazing all these shots are. Very inspiring.


 


jedensuscg said:


> I can barely get non-living subjects to stand still that long...nice shots.



Thanks DennyCrane, jedensuscg.


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## tpe (Oct 4, 2011)

The first one really is exceptional.

Tim


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## orionmystery (Oct 5, 2011)

tpe said:


> The first one really is exceptional.
> 
> Tim



Thanks Tim.


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## D-B-J (Oct 5, 2011)

Beautiful photo's


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## orionmystery (Oct 7, 2011)

D-B-J said:


> Beautiful photo's



Thanks, DBJ.


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