The bark is better for it's mites....

[Logical Fallacy]

Stuff I found under bark at Chobham Common yesterday, for once a springtail was the biggest thing I took a photo of.

6mm (plus even longer antenna)

Pogonognathellus longicornis by markhortonphotography, on Flickr

3mm beetle

Bitoma crenata by markhortonphotography, on Flickr

1.5mm oribatid mite
Oribatid mite by markhortonphotography, on Flickr

Oribatid mite by markhortonphotography, on Flickr

1mm very cool little mite, another oribatid but very different, this one looked like a tiny seed when I found it. It can seal it's legs and thorax completely up into it's body, and anchors itself in place. Luckily I took a few shots of the mystery seed thing to see if I could work out what it was later, and then it poked it's legs out and legged it very slowly.

Oribatid mite defences! by markhortonphotography, on Flickr

 

[ChrisA]

Some great finds there - especially the beetle and the last thing. I've also learnt a new id oribatid.

 

[Tintin124]

Awesome set Mark and great find's.... now I'm going to have to look more closely to every spec.

 

[G.K.Jnr.]

"Excellent" set of images Mark, with some really good detail.

George.

 

[Paul Iddon]

Amazing finds - well jealous!


Paul.

 

[Cmely]

What camera, lens and settings are you using ?

 

[Logical Fallacy]

Cheers all

What camera, lens and settings are you using ?

As I wasn't intending to do any macro yesterday I only had the 100mm macro and the Raynox202. (on a 7D) It's not a combination I've really used in the field before, but using the MP-E65 for so long now, has made it a viable option, if difficult.

Settings vary a little between shots, but generally keep the ISO to 160 or below, shutter speed between 1/125 and 1/250, and aperture between f5.6 and f11. Flash power on manual to taste.

 

[T0p cat]

Those are mitey fine shots.

 

[Logical Fallacy]

Cheers!

@Cmely, Christophe, was that what you were after?

 

[Cmely]

Yes @Logical Fallacy, thank you very much
You've done a very good job on your pictures.

 

[TimmyG]

Brilliant set! I love the mites, especially that last one . I've got a couple of shots of a similar looking orbatid mite that have proved very popular (one due to be exhibited in a museum exhibition later this year, and another featuring in an educational leaflet in France), so hopefully yours will prove equally popular. I've didn't capture that defensive behaviour and I didn't even know they did this!

 

[Logical Fallacy]

Nicely done Tim! I might upload at least the last two on their own at some point (think they're strong enough as stand-alones), but really wanted to show how cool the defence mechanism is together.