portrait of soldier flies

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nto
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portrait of soldier flies

Post by nto »

this and capture yesterday, tried to change diffuser to bug, with approximately cubic 12x12x12cmm, light seems better than other pictures that I've done previously,
I do not want to make mistakes but it seems soldier flies :D

Image


Technical info:
350d
extension tube 25mm
105mm set to f/6.3 at 1:1
nikon af 50mm f/1.8D reversed set to f/4 at infinity
two flash wtih diffuser , see here
additional diffuser for subject
37 frame step 0.1mm
stacked with Tufuse

Image crop



ciao
Antonio

Cyclops
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Post by Cyclops »

Wow I love the interference colours in the eyes!
Canon 5D and 30D | Canon IXUS 265HS | Cosina 100mm f3.5 macro | EF 75-300 f4.5-5.6 USM III | EF 50 f1.8 II | Slik 88 tripod | Apex Practicioner monocular microscope

P_T
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Post by P_T »

If eyes really are a window to the soul, that fly has the soul of an artist. Such beautiful colour palette and pattern. Great job capturing it too, the lighting works really well to bring out the eyes.

dmillard
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Post by dmillard »

Beautiful eyes on this fly! Excellent job Antonio.

rovebeetle
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Post by rovebeetle »

Excellent! Judging from the build of the antennae you might be right about soldier fly.

Cheers
Harry

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

It's an excellent picture!

I'm not sure what is meant by "soldier fly".

BugGuide and many other sources put the name "soldier fly" with family Stratiomyidae, which doesn't look right.

For this one, I'm thinking family Tabanidae, commonly called "Horse and Deer Flies". The antennae and mouthparts look reasonable, plus this family often has eyes that are strikingly patterned like this.

--Rik

rovebeetle
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Post by rovebeetle »

Rik, your reply teaches me not to reply to ID threads immediately after getting up in the morning, at least not before having drained a big mug of coffee :D.

You are right, of course - that's a tabanid and not a stratiomyid. The iridescence pattern of the eyes should have been tell-tale sign enough for me, let alone the anntenae :oops: .

However, to be absolutely sure, Antonio, you should post an overview image of the entire insect.

Cheers
Harry

nto
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Post by nto »

Many Thanks :)

P_T you wrote poetry :D

Harry you seen good Infraorder Stratiomyomorpha -> Stratiomyidae

genus is Hermetia

other portrait BugGuide Hermetia illucens

I present problems for positioning, figure whole is not presentable, sorry :oops:
Antonio

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

nto, many thanks for the ID and especially the very precise link into BugGuide. The face of this species looks a lot different from other stratiomyids!

How big is this thing, anyway?

--Rik

nto
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Post by nto »

rjlittlefield wrote:The face of this species looks a lot different from other stratiomyids!
is true, I was insecure, however found very useful BugGuide

length bug is 1.5cm

board left eye to the right-hand edge is 4mm

antennae is 5mm

I wanted to do vertical frame with antennae, then I decided for easy positioning light horizontal :wink:
Antonio

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Thanks for the size information.

Another question...

With stacked lenses, most people stop down one lens or the other but not both. I notice you are stopping down both lenses, and I'm curious why.

Did you test various ways and find that stopping down both lenses works better?

--Rik

rovebeetle
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Post by rovebeetle »

nto wrote: Harry you seen good Infraorder Stratiomyomorpha -> Stratiomyidae
Well, thanks, but that doesn't have an influence on what I wrote above.
Sometimes I'm a bit too rash with my ID's - 25 years as a professional taxonomist should have told me better :) . My only excuse is that I normally work with rove beetles.

Cheers
Harry

nto
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Post by nto »

Harry not drinking more coffee :D

rjlittlefield wrote: With stacked lenses, most people stop down one lens or the other but not both. I notice you are stopping down both lenses, and I'm curious why.

Did you test various ways and find that stopping down both lenses works better?

Rik sò not as I understand it, and question is diaphragms lenses:

105 a f/6.3 and 50 a f/4 produces good quality (50mm a f/4 sticker board a bit), with good fall dof, I very interested in blur, currently my best setup that I have, later add good lens for microscope :)
Antonio

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