Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted August 15, 2010148 views12 comments
I found this interesting insect in a marsh area close by. I have tried to identify it with books and the internet but failed. Do you hav eany idea of its ID?
D300, Sigma180, F13, 1/25, tripod, cropped to 60% of original.
Comments
12 comments
Comment posted by Luke Ormand on August 15, 2010 at 10:23 AM
Beautifully rendered with a lovely tightrope for it to walk. Sorry that I can't help with the ID
Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments
Comment posted by Wayne Jones on August 15, 2010 at 10:54 AM
Very colorful and well-done shot, Ellen. Nice light and background.
ID is probably difficult because I suspect this may not be a normal adult insect. While it looks superficially like a wasp, I suspect that it may be a beetle (possibly family Cerambycidae) whose wings did not completely develop during pupation. I think the striped thing between the middle and back leg may be a beetle's wing cover. Of course, it may be a normal adult I am not familiar with -- there are millions of insect species. Try searching for your native beetles as a start for ID.
Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments
Comment posted by Doug Gilham on August 15, 2010 at 12:07 PM
Nice image Ellen, and from the angle you shot this it certainly looks like a wasp. It also looks like a Black and Yellow Sawfly, which are native to Europe. I looked it up on http://bugguide.net/node/view/20338. A nice website for identifying bugs.
Registered on September 20, 2009, 77 Posts, 489 Comments
Comment posted by Balakumar Kaushik on August 15, 2010 at 4:44 PM
Beautiful image with a good BG. Love that walking pose.
Not sure about the brown BG.
Registered on January 4, 2008, 98 Posts, 1403 Comments
Comment posted by Dan Borzynski on August 15, 2010 at 10:54 PM
I don't think Doug's Bugguide id is correct. There are a whole bunch of differences between the image and its description and what is in your shot.
Take a closer look at where the antenna are placed on your shot. They are in the middle of the eye rather than on the head. I think Wayne may be on the right track for id - I know I have run across this somewhere but I'm not sure where.
It is a great image, thanks for posting.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 109 Posts, 799 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on August 16, 2010 at 4:18 AM
Ellen:
A very nice capture of this bug. Looks like it is taking a leisurely stroll along the blade of grass.
Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments
Comment posted by Wayne Jones on August 16, 2010 at 12:43 PM
Ellen, Here's your ID.
Since the body form shows that this is quite obviously a Cerambycid (longhorn beetle) I googled "Cerambycidae wasp mimic" and found that it's a well-known beetle found all over Europe: the Wasp Beetle (Clytus arietis). I have seen similar species in the USA, since wasp mimicry is fairly common among Cerambycids.
In identifying amimals, the body form is a much more more reliable indicator than superficial characters such as markings and colors, but in this case, as I noted before, the elytra (wing covers) in your specimen appear to have not developed completely, making the ID more difficult. Without the typical hard "shell-like" wing covers, you need to be able to reconize other physical characteristics of beetle bodies, which takes more experience than most people have. If you google "wasp beetle" you will find dozens of images of what they usually look like. This makes your image all the more unique. Tough ID, but a fine photograph!
Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments
Comment posted by Ellen deBoer on August 16, 2010 at 4:52 PM
Many thanks everybody and especially Wayne for helping me with the ID of this critter! And for the nice photo technic/esthetic comments of course.
Registered on March 16, 2006, 419 Posts, 2076 Comments
Comment posted by David Chauvin on August 16, 2010 at 6:31 PM
Nicely done, Ellen. The colors here are wonderful.
Registered on August 5, 2004, 1007 Posts, 5595 Comments
Comment posted by mark cillo on August 16, 2010 at 7:32 PM
This is absolutely beautiful! The colors and DOF are perfect
Registered on July 27, 2008, 143 Posts, 1483 Comments
Comment posted by Mike Moats on August 16, 2010 at 9:49 PM
Hey Ellen, nice details, BG, and slight diagonal on the stems.
Registered on October 20, 2004, 892 Posts, 6324 Comments
Comment posted by Sam Rua on August 18, 2010 at 1:19 AM
Very nice capture, Ellen. Love the comp.
Registered on September 9, 2006, 130 Posts, 2281 Comments
Comments
12 commentsID is probably difficult because I suspect this may not be a normal adult insect. While it looks superficially like a wasp, I suspect that it may be a beetle (possibly family Cerambycidae) whose wings did not completely develop during pupation. I think the striped thing between the middle and back leg may be a beetle's wing cover. Of course, it may be a normal adult I am not familiar with -- there are millions of insect species. Try searching for your native beetles as a start for ID.
Not sure about the brown BG.
Take a closer look at where the antenna are placed on your shot. They are in the middle of the eye rather than on the head. I think Wayne may be on the right track for id - I know I have run across this somewhere but I'm not sure where.
It is a great image, thanks for posting.
A very nice capture of this bug. Looks like it is taking a leisurely stroll along the blade of grass.
Since the body form shows that this is quite obviously a Cerambycid (longhorn beetle) I googled "Cerambycidae wasp mimic" and found that it's a well-known beetle found all over Europe: the Wasp Beetle (Clytus arietis). I have seen similar species in the USA, since wasp mimicry is fairly common among Cerambycids.
In identifying amimals, the body form is a much more more reliable indicator than superficial characters such as markings and colors, but in this case, as I noted before, the elytra (wing covers) in your specimen appear to have not developed completely, making the ID more difficult. Without the typical hard "shell-like" wing covers, you need to be able to reconize other physical characteristics of beetle bodies, which takes more experience than most people have. If you google "wasp beetle" you will find dozens of images of what they usually look like. This makes your image all the more unique. Tough ID, but a fine photograph!