Soldierfly closeups

Finally got a half decent shot of one of these (#1) then later when I was on pond cleaning duty noticed another one floating towards my surface skimmer (certain death)- I rescued it let it dry out a bit and then took the opportunity for some more closeups (#2&3). It did recover and fly off .
Amazing wrap around "bifocal" eyes these have.
Brian V.

Fantastic shots and a great save as well, he does look a little wet behind the ears.

Lovely details Never see these before.

Thanks for the comments, I did dry it off a bit by touching it with a bit of tissue- after the shoot I let it dry off properly in the sun whilst sitting on my finger- just as I thought I ought to take a pic of it , it decided to leave
Brian V.

LordV wrote:
Thanks for the comments, I did dry it off a bit by touching it with a bit of tissue- after the shoot I let it dry off properly in the sun whilst sitting on my finger- just as I thought I ought to take a pic of it , it decided to leave
Brian V.

This must be the world's first tissue-dried insect! What a caring man you are

And your shots are truly incredible! I don't think I've ever seen that much detail before. Thanks!!!

lovely shots Brian.........
I don't think you could say its bifocal tho............. that means only 2 lenses..
this little guy has thousands of lenses..
milifocal i would say

dazzlebea wrote:
This must be the world's first tissue-dried insect! What a caring man you are

And your shots are truly incredible! I don't think I've ever seen that much detail before. Thanks!!!

Thanks Bea.
I tend to rescue bugs from the pond if I see them but I was being quite selfish here- hadn't managed a closeup on one of these flies so realised this was a good opportunity
Brian V.

chemicalbro wrote:
lovely shots Brian.........
I don't think you could say its bifocal tho............. that means only 2 lenses..
this little guy has thousands of lenses..
milifocal i would say

Thanks Alan
The bifocal comment was referring to the apparent split between the upper and lower halves of the eye- almost seems to be a line but it may be an optical illusion.
Brian V.

LordV wrote:
Thanks Alan
The bifocal comment was referring to the apparent split between the upper and lower halves of the eye- almost seems to be a line but it may be an optical illusion.
Brian V.

yeah i was just pulling your leg....
a few insects appear to have this division in their eyes....... St marks fly is the 1st that comes to mind.

don'[t think on this one it's an optical illusion (they normally only work from 1 angle) the line is clearly visible in both shots

Fantastic shots Brian, that 1st shot is a cracker, outstanding. Lovely fly as well. Nice save as well, it's always a nice feeling to save them from drowning.

Dave

Thanks Dave-
These soldier flies do have nice irridescent colouring. As I said above I wasn't being entirely altruistic rescuing the fly- I wanted to get some closeups

Brian V.

hehehe I understand. I bet you'd have rescued it though even if you didn't have your camera on you

Dave

Great series. I love how I can see hairs growing out from the eyes

What a neat little fella!