NM Bugs and Sirius Imagery

I think the thing I love the most about macro photography is the endless journey of learning. Not only do you learn about different species but often their behavior. You get to observe them and explore what, when and why.

Today that opportunity hit once again. My very first mantis I ever captured on film was Stagmomantis limbata. This summer I kept going up to the spot I found my first mantis hoping to find another of this species. The last month and a half at our house we have been visited by many mantises. One night we had 50 between our front and back door. I thought I died and went to heaven!

The species visiting our front door I assumed was some different genus from Stagmomantis and I would learn later today just how wrong this assumption was to be. The reason I made this assumption was due to the three simple eyes between the compound eyes.

Here is a Stagmomantis, according to one expert in the field possibly Stagmomantis californica:

Here is a pregnant Stagmomantis I found this weekend. Sadly she died and I am guessing due to the wound that you see in the picture.

Now compare the above picture with the first. Can you see any simple eyes on top of her head? I sure could not. It wasn’t until I cropped the picture below did I barely notice them at all. Thanks to David Ferguson telling me yes indeed the females have them but due to their size not noticeable unless you look hard enough.

Another picture of the male Stagmomantis

All this time I thought I was dealing with two different types of mantises. They might be different species but they are the same genus. Currently I am trying to gather more information for id purposes but we are dealing with either Stagmomantis limbata or Stagmomantis californica.

Another difference between male and female of this genus are the wings. The males can fly and have long wings that extend to the tip of their abdomen while the females have short wings and cannot fly or cannot fly well or far. The females wings are very short and the females are much larger than the male.

As I stated earlier the female Stagmomantis died and sadly did so prior to releasing her eggs. My husband brought her home and we will see if it is possible for the eggs to be protected enough inside the dead mantis to survive and hatch. I will update the article in Spring and hope to report our experiment to be a success!

I used to be horribly frightened of spiders. I would scream for my husband to come in to kill them. I couldn’t even get close enough to stomp on one myself. I bought bug spray by the gallon, you know the indoor/outdoor kind? Bugs, spiders and every other creepy crawly scared the heck out of me.

Over the last 2 years I have come to understand bugs and spiders. Ignorance and horror flicks are what breed fear in us. We cannot rely on Hollywood, urban legends and wives tales when judging our world around us. Once we understand bugs and spiders and the wonderful role they play in our lives there is less fear. Granted I pick up many bugs but spiders well I still fear them a little more than I should. I can get close to them but if they jump on me or run up my shirt like one did while I was photographing him, I still scream like a girl. One day though I am sure I will be picking them up. It is all a matter of taking baby steps to overcome years of misunderstanding and irrational fears.

Of all the spiders I think I would have to say Wolf spiders are my favorite. The come in all different sizes and colors. They have wonderful big eyes and when you look into them you have to wonder what intelligence is there. This spiders seem to know when you mean them no harm and when they should be running. If you talk to them while photographing them they all seem to pose for you. They seem to study you as much as you study them. Take a moment to stop and look at a spider instead of screaming it away. You might be surprised at what you really see.

The other reason I love wolfies is because the female spider is the ultimate wondermom! This mom carries her egg sac filled with hundreds of eggs with her wherever she goes for about 3 weeks. Where her spiderlings hatch she then carries every one of them on her back for another 3 weeks or until their first molt. Can you imagine carrying the eggs and young on your back for 6 weeks? Not only that but many wolfies do this two times in their very short life.

Here is the picture of the proud mom:

I love the color and pattern of this wolfie. He was 3” long from front to back leg. Just beautiful!

This is my other favorite wolfie. He was the first spider I used my mp-e on to get real detailed eye pattern shots. Funny thing is, he was also the biggest wolfie I had ever encountered too. Why would I pick such a big boy to try out a lens that you can only use a few inches away from your subject lol!!

Here is a full shot of that gray beauty.

One thing I have learned about spiders through all of this is they are nothing like Hollywood has shown us. They will not go flying through the air to jump on your head and suck out your brain. They are more scared of you then you are them. They do not hunt you down to bite you and cause you pain. They bite out of fear and as a last resort.

“Fear always springs from ignorance.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am excited to announce my new web address http://www.nmbugs.com

It is so hard to think of website names that are easy for people to remember. People could not pronounce Sirius or spell it also Imagery appeared to perplex people as well. I just could not take it anymore and decided to come up with the easiest name possible for people. The names I tried were either taken or considered “premium” names which means you pay a “premium” price. The one domain I considered was a premium domain with the asking price of “only” $500.00!! I just couldn’t bring myself to pay that fee!

I thought NMbugs would good since most of my art is that of insects and arachnids which are found all over NM. Bugs are not the only thing I photograph though in the summer time they are a major focus of my work. As people will see as I better update my site (trying to get better about it) that I will have beautiful flowers and many other subjects I like to photograph. I chose NMbugs because it is easy to remember but that does not mean all you will find here are bugs.

I hope people will enjoy the new site and the images I will share here. As for the image posted here, there is an interesting story behind it to which I am very proud. You will see many pictures of dragonflies on the web but many of these beautiful images are taken with a telephoto. What you see here is a picture taken with a special lens called the mp-e which is a dedicated macro. This means you can only do macro with this lens. This is unlike other macro lenses like the Canon 100L which can be used for portraits, landscapes etc. The mp-e requires you be within inches of the subject. Some people who have successfully captured a dragonfly with the mp-e will go out early in the morning when it is cold and the dragonfly really cannot get away. Others have good luck and patience like me.

It took me weeks to get this picture. I would go out each day and take some pictures and talk to the dragonflies. I know talking to insects sounds off but I do think they can tell by our tone whether we mean them harm or not. Over those weeks these fascinating creatures would allow me to get just a little bit closer. After getting several lovely shots with my Canon 100L I decided to try the mp-e. To my surprise a couple of this beauties allowed me to get within mp-e range. I was so happy and so proud I could not stop smiling. I had begged hubby for months for a telephoto just so I can shoot these creatures. He would reply how I would be able to do it without one and I would reply “yeah, right”. He had more faith in me than I had in myself. I am so happy that he did not cave to my requests after all! I am really ecstatic that this picture is here to announce the launch of my new site.

Now I have to come up with an easy to remember email address so people don’t get confused with Racquel@…lol.

Sun Spiders are not real spiders. They are of the class Arachnida like ticks and scorpions but are not spiders. This specimen was approx 3″ total length.

My son found this spider yesterday. I love jumping spiders. They look like little puppy dogs! Such big eyes for a spider only 5mm in size.