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First time for me

Started 3 months ago | Photos
macrouser
macrouser Senior Member • Posts: 3,979
First time for me
11

This is the first time I have seen a jumping spider that mimics a small black ant.

It is eating one of the Dolichopodid flies.

This is the larva of the largest mosquito in the world.

Toxorhynchites speciosus.  The mosquito is harmless to humans.  It does not suck blood.  The larva eats other mosquito larva.

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richj20 Forum Pro • Posts: 10,181
Re: First time for me

macrouser wrote:

This is the first time I have seen a jumping spider that mimics a small black ant.

It is eating one of the Dolichopodid flies.

A first time is always exciting!

What do you mean by it mimics an ant?

This is the larva of the largest mosquito in the world.

Toxorhynchites speciosus. The mosquito is harmless to humans. It does not suck blood. The larva eats other mosquito larva.

A very interesting structure. What is the larva resting on?

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macrouser
OP macrouser Senior Member • Posts: 3,979
Re: First time for me

This is an ant that was just a few leaves over from the spider.

The spider even copies the ants pheromones.

The mosquito larva is in a shallow clear container of water.  The water distorts the image a little if you look at it at 100%.

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Sony SLT-A77 Sony a7R III Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX DG Macro HSM Sony FE 90mm F2.8 macro Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS +2 more
Gilbert1 Regular Member • Posts: 329
Re: First time for me

macrouser wrote:

It is eating one of the Dolichopodid flies.

Toxorhynchites speciosus. The mosquito is harmless to humans. It does not suck blood. The larva eats other mosquito larva.

Very nice. Did you use an additional light source when shooting?

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macrouser
OP macrouser Senior Member • Posts: 3,979
Re: First time for me

I used a flash on camera for these and nearly all the others I have done.

The mosquito larva had an LED panel to one side to give me light to focus.

 macrouser's gear list:macrouser's gear list
Sony SLT-A77 Sony a7R III Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX DG Macro HSM Sony FE 90mm F2.8 macro Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS +2 more
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