Rhingia campestris

Images taken in a controlled environment or with a posed subject. All subject types.

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Guppy
Posts: 320
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2010 10:36 am
Location: Switzerland
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Rhingia campestris

Post by Guppy »

Hi

The heads of the flies are very different,
depending on the food they prefer
and how they want to bother us.
Here is a specimen with "nose" and long proboscis.
It is rather small, body length thanks to the nose, about 10mm.

Image
www.focus-stacking.ch/B/05256_00.JPG

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: Rodenstock APO Rodagon N 50mm 1:2.8, (in retro)
Exposure time: Flash
Aperture: 4.8
ISO: 64
Lighting: 4 flashes
Diffuser: white writing paper
Shooting file format (RAW/JPG): RAW
Tripod: Reprostand
Shooting date: 16.06.2021
Region/Place: Bern (CH)
Species name: Rhingia campestris
Multishot technique: Stack
Stacking Software / Method: Zerene Stacker / PMax
Imaging scale: 3:1
Number of stack steps: 167
Average stack step size (mm) with Cognisys StackShot: 0.03

Kurt

MarkSturtevant
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Location: Michigan, U.S.A.
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Re: Rhingia campestris

Post by MarkSturtevant »

Very nicely done. One could be suspicious that this is a blood sucker, given the proboscis. But I have no idea what the snout is for.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

ChrisR
Site Admin
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Location: Near London, UK

Re: Rhingia campestris

Post by ChrisR »

"The Heineken fly is a common hoverfly found along hedgerows, in gardens and at woodland edges. Adults feed on the nectar of flowers like White Dead-nettle and Red Dead-nettle, and the larvae live and feed in animal dung."


"Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach." - but that's the beer ad.
Chris R

iconoclastica
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Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2016 12:34 pm
Location: Wageningen, Gelderland

Re: Rhingia campestris

Post by iconoclastica »

I have heard about the coca-cola fly (Episyrphus balteatus), but what is the Heineken fly? Is it this Rhingia?
--- felix filicis ---

pawelfoto
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Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2021 2:51 pm
Location: Poland

Re: Rhingia campestris

Post by pawelfoto »

I love your extremely clean and clear portraits of Diptera. If it's not a secret, how long does it take to prepare the insect - cleaning, makeup and hair styling? They look so fluffy as if they were not bathed. How much time do you spend retouching 1 photo?
==best, Pawel

Guppy
Posts: 320
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2010 10:36 am
Location: Switzerland
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Re: Rhingia campestris

Post by Guppy »

Hi Pawel

Glad you like my picture, thanks.
I bathe insects in alcohol, then dry them with air spray.
Dirt and fuselage I remove under the binocular, which takes about half an hour. Mounting and alignment also in about half an hour.

Image editing is an integral part of photography for me.
I love finding ways to make the image better.
One good picture is more important to me than ten mediocre ones.
Depending on the image, it is ready in a few hours, or the processing drags on for days, several times several hours.
That can then also be ten hours.
How long I work on a picture is not important, but the result.
Once I'm done with a picture, I have to make a new one so I can edit again.
I love to edit pictures, work slowly and enjoy it.

Kurt

dhmiller
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Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:42 am
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Re: Rhingia campestris

Post by dhmiller »

"I bathe insects in alcohol, then dry them with air spray."

I'm trying to develop some best practices for cleaning my insect specimens.
Couple of questions:
Do you use 70% or 90% alcohol?
Do you rinse them in water before air drying?
What type of device do you use for the air drying?
And what do you use to remove the dirt and fuselage?

Thanks for the help. Much appreciated.

Guppy
Posts: 320
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2010 10:36 am
Location: Switzerland
Contact:

Re: Rhingia campestris

Post by Guppy »

Hi

It's cheaper 94% ethanol (for making fire).
Sometimes I bathe them in distilled water.
I use air spray in the can.
Remaining dirt is removed with tweezers and fine paintbrush under the binocular.

Kurt

dhmiller
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Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:42 am
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Re: Rhingia campestris

Post by dhmiller »

Thanks very much for the reply and cleaning tips.

Macrero
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Location: Valladolid , Spain

Re: Rhingia campestris

Post by Macrero »

Well done. Very clean stack with lots of detail and perfectly lit.

Best,

- Macrero
https://500px.com/macrero - Amateurs worry about equipment, Pros worry about money, Masters worry about Light

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