Pond creatures – ‘meet your neighbours’ style
Had another go at the ‘Meet the Neighbours’ style photos i.e. with a white background. Got some I’m pretty happy with. Newt tadpoles Lesser water boatman. Colymbetes fucus Diving beetle.
Upside down lesser water boatman
Photographing more pond creatures today this lesser water boatman suffered from delusions of grandeur, sitting upside down at the surface like one of its larger relatives the greater water boatman . This algae eater is not going to kid anyone though, for as well as being smaller, it lacks that needle like mouth that the…
Water louse Asellus aquaticus
Regular readers will know I photograph pond creatures on a fairly regular basis, but up until today I have never managed a shot I’m happy with of a Water louse Asellus aquaticus. I catch them on most pond dips, but because they are so common, combined with the fact they have the habit tucking themselves…
Chaetogaster limnaei worm on a Ramshorn Snail
A couple of years ago I found a Ramshorn snail and decided to photograph it. I looked closer and I could see some white worm like creatures crawling over it. I struggled to work out what they were, but I recently asked around and was told by a member of the Wild about Britain forum…
Common Backswimmer Notonecta glauca
Here a few shots of a common backswimmer Notonecta glauca. This individual has flipped over to the right way up at the surface in preparation to fly off. I took them a couple of years ago so they are not my best shots I’ll have to blog more about these amazing insects later on.
Diving beetle larva covered in Vorticella ciliate
Another quick photo post, this time of a diving beetle larva. This beastie is famous for being a ferocious predator, sometimes attacking prey bigger then itself with its large pincer like mouthparts. They even eat each other! If you look closely you can see its covered in what looks like white fuzz. These are another…
Phantom midge larva Charborus sp.
After the success of the Pond olive mayfly larva post I thought I post about another of the ponds amazing creatures: the Phantom midge larva. I took some photos of these creatures today. They are specialised predators that live a mostly planktonic life. Floating around in open water they would be easily spotted and vulnerable…
Cloen dipterum Pond Olive Mayfly
One of the most common finds in garden ponds this time of year is the Pond olive mayfly nymph Cloen dipterum. Mayflies usual conjure up thoughts of adults that mate and die after a day or two, and to those more familiar aquatic invertebrates of the larvae that live the the relatively oxygen rich flowing…
Pond creatures ‘meet the neighbours’ style
I had another attempt at the ‘meet the neighbours’ style wildlife photography, which involves photographing your subject on a completely white background. I tried it first on a Rhantus Diving beetle in one of my aquariums. I also tried it with a water stick insect. Then a few close ups with a normal background
Giant Horsefly – Tabanus
Back in June, I came across this Giant Horsefly (Tabanus sp.) They lay their eggs on pond margins where their larvae live. I photographed a larva last year. I got a head on shot too. They thankfully (for us) tend to leave humans alone and tend bite horses and cows.