by Greg Mayer
Sam Droege of The US Geological Survey Bee Survey and Monitoring Lab has a fabulous Flickr page of bees, other insects and invertebrates, and even a few vertebrates. I can’t let Matthew and Jerry get all the best insect posts!
Here’s a spider.
And, more to my tastes, even a vertebrate:
There are over a 1000 photos at the site; all are worth at least a look, and many a lot more than that.
h/t D. Pham
Excellent photos. That spider looks a little surprised though. Maybe the flash surprised him. 😉
Fantastic shots.
That snake appears damaged.
Yes, there’s some kind of puncture wound on the neck*, and dirt in its mouth. Its lung is clearly inflated, but possibly not with actual breath. Amazing depth of field though.
* Some people claim that snakes have no necks. My working hypothesis is that due to a duplication in the developmental program, snake necks have necks.
Whut?
Might be a roadkill. The position is limp and unnatural, and the snake definitely looks dead or moribund.
Yeah, I don’t know “why” but my first thought before even seeing the photo in its entirety is “dead snake”. Then I saw the puncture wound. I guess after handling and observing enough snakes, you get a feel for it.
Sam makes incredible images. I say it that was because he’s not “just taking a photo”; he’s taking many photos and then “stacking” them to get excellent detail and definition all the way back.
Reginald, the snake is likely dead, as it would be difficult to get that many photos of a live snake being perfectly still. All the insects are. Which is not to say that he killed it; he also has images of birds that have been found dead. Definitely not possible to focus stack a live bird!
The bee’s compound eyes have brown areas – are these just different pigments or do they represent damaged areas in a worn out ‘older’ bee?
I am thinking that maybe it is dead (and maybe mounted). Compound eyes will lose their color like that in dead insects. It is much easier to photograph up close if the insect lies still!
It is definitely dead, as are all Sam’s specimens. He collects for the USGS and the Smithsonian’s collections. Information and a link are on his Flickr profile page: http://www.flickr.com/people/usgsbiml/
…endless forms most beautiful…
Reblogged this on Mark Solock Blog.