Ethics of insect photography?

I have, right now, a beautiful Cycropia moth on my garage wall near where we have an overnight light. It is completely still and I've heard it called sleeping by others (???) It is very high on the wall and at a difficult place for a tripods use. I have often wondered at some photos of insects, if they had been intentionally killed to make photographing easier. We humans have come a long way from the days when bird photographers and scientists shot birds from the sky in large numbers to study them closely.

I have wondered if there is a way to subdue, even for only a minute or two, an insect. I tried with a common crane fly a few days ago, to put it in a jar and put it in the freezer for 5 minutes to hopefully slow it down. That was too long and it was dead whan I removed it.

Any comments as to others experiences along this line of thought would be very interesting.

Well, for one, I'd try the fridge instead of the freezer... below zero vs. 4 degrees centigrade makes quite a difference for living things.

I usually try to shoot insects in their natural environment, but I think quite a lot of people use the "fridge technique" or other ways to get closer to their subjects.

Of course you are right, Basil. It is a matter of calibration. Not being sure how long fridge or freezer might take to anaesthize the bug I thought the fridge might not do it in a short while and thinking I'd give it a very limited time in the freezer (yea right) I chose that. I also thought in a sealed jar the temp would not equal the freezer temp in that short time.

Actually to answer your last comment about natural environment, that is what I hoped to create with moving the bug from a man made wall.

Thanks for comments.

My dragonfly buddy routinely nets dragonflies and chills them in a beer cooler for 15 minutes, then poses them on plants. It doesn't seem to do the bugs any harm, and it sure makes them easier to photograph.

In my opinion the "fridge method" is a bad idea: first of all that's not the most ethical way to interact with critters (most of them during daytime live at 40°, so a visit in the fridge probably isn't the nicest experience), but above all with that technique you loose the most of the fun: searching and catching them in their natural environment- I use instead the "natural fridge technique": catching them at dawn possibly after a cold, humid night you can get them well dazed, with the best light and with lot of fun (moreover you avoid the wife's cries when opens the fridge full of cold bugs) - Ciao Fabio

Not that any of my shots are as good as your buddy, Jim but I don't really need to catch dragon flies as they are satisfactorily photographed with moderate zooms and tripod at natural settings. At least they are acceptable for my wants. My main problem is that I see many good specimins of a great variety of insects on wooden siding and light fixtures that are not natural at all. I take these photos but really don't feel satisfied with their un-natural BG for more than a few posts here.

The other problem with refrigerating an insect is that if you know what you are looking at, you can often tell that it was done, usually by the way it is sitting.

Patience is usually the key with photographing any insect. Sure, you may not get the insect the first or second time, but you will eventually. And even the failures are better than network television.

Depending on the type of insect, sometimes simply putting a leaf or a piece of bark over it while you prepare your gear will keep it in place long enough to get a good shot. Works well for crawlers, does not work well (at all) for butterflies though . . .

I never knew that people put the insects in the fridge before taking pictures. I don't think it is the right thing to do at all. photograph should be taken without disturbing the insect. This is probly the reason I am not able to get a good perfect focus shot of an insect. But then I would surely not want to put the insect or bug in the fridge for a photograph.