Really a Bad Hair Day (Image added)
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Really a Bad Hair Day (Image added)
Gee, first time I have posted over here. Pretty nice place you guys have. I suppose what I have goes here. Anyway, prowling the woods as usual, I often come up on strange stuff, most of it too late of course but I come upon it just the same. Most of you are familar with this stuff already...
I removed the stem and what was left of this thing and brought it inside to mount and photograph infront of a gray card, in the bedroom no less, my lab, my studio.
Canon EOS 20D w/EF-S 60mm f/2.8 macro tripod mounted, Canon 220EX Speedlite, off camera and diffused (so it doesn't blow up!).
I removed the stem and what was left of this thing and brought it inside to mount and photograph infront of a gray card, in the bedroom no less, my lab, my studio.
Canon EOS 20D w/EF-S 60mm f/2.8 macro tripod mounted, Canon 220EX Speedlite, off camera and diffused (so it doesn't blow up!).
Last edited by Ken Ramos on Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- Cyberspider
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Hi Ken...what is this? I agree with Cyclops...great shots...
best regards
Markus
SONY a6000, Sigma 150mm 2,8 Makro HSM, Extention Tubes, Raynox DCR-250
visit me on flickr
Markus
SONY a6000, Sigma 150mm 2,8 Makro HSM, Extention Tubes, Raynox DCR-250
visit me on flickr
- rjlittlefield
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This is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyceps]Cordyceps or something like it, yes?
We are looking at the shell of an insect, with fungus growing out of it?
--Rik
We are looking at the shell of an insect, with fungus growing out of it?
--Rik
Cyclops wrote:Some kind of cricket? Really needs to make an appointment with his hairdresser!
Great shots Ken
Hi guys This probably was a grasshopper or maybe even a cricket at one time. There is no telling how long the insect has been attached to that tree twig but the head, I found out later through the use of the dissecting microscope, is still attached. What has happened is that the insect has come into contact with spores from the Cordyceps fungi, a parasitic and infectious fungi, prone to attacking a certain species of insect. The "hairs" you see are "stroma," which contain spores for dispersal. This infection is also called "Summit Disease."Cyberspider wrote:Hi Ken...what is this? I agree with Cyclops...great shots...
Thanks Guys
Yep, that pretty much sums it up there Rik. I have thousands of ants stuck to tree and shrub limbs all over the place around here. It is a wonder that there are any ants at all. All of them of course having succumbed to Cordyceps. Though the infected insects may not think much of it, I am always delighted to find carapaces like this hanging around.rjlittlefield wrote:This is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyceps]Cordyceps or something like it, yes?
We are looking at the shell of an insect, with fungus growing out of it?
--Rik
Thanks Rik
- rjlittlefield
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The ecology of your area is obviously very different from mine. I cannot recall ever seeing this first-hand, although I have spent thousands of hours walking around our forests and grasslands and deserts looking for bugs.Ken Ramos wrote:I have thousands of ants stuck to tree and shrub limbs all over the place around here.
--Rik
Well, they're not really something that stands out and most of the time I come upon ones like the one posted, quite by accident, usually when I am not looking for them. Each species of Cordyceps, to my understanding, targets a specific species of insect, e.g. one for spiders, one for ants, one for grasshoppers, etc. Another one of natures way of keeping one thing from getting the upper hand on another. I am sure you have this in your area, you just have not been lucky enough yet to come across it. Cordyceps, I think, is a fungus prone to high elevations also and it is not very large. Some species of Cordyceps are also used in medicine. I really hope that this fungi never mutates to humans.rjlittlefield wrote:The ecology of your area is obviously very different from mine. I cannot recall ever seeing this first-hand, although I have spent thousands of hours walking around our forests and grasslands and deserts looking for bugs.Ken Ramos wrote:I have thousands of ants stuck to tree and shrub limbs all over the place around here.
--Rik
Thanks Rik
- Mike B in OKlahoma
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Great find Ken!
I've seen your shots of other victims here, but have never seen this myself. I'd love to photograph it, though I suspect I'd be rather creeped out! Good idea to photograph it under controlled conditions. Did you get any environmental shots before you collected it?
My suspicion is that the victim here is a katydid (that's bush cricket for the English types among us).
I've seen your shots of other victims here, but have never seen this myself. I'd love to photograph it, though I suspect I'd be rather creeped out! Good idea to photograph it under controlled conditions. Did you get any environmental shots before you collected it?
My suspicion is that the victim here is a katydid (that's bush cricket for the English types among us).
Mike Broderick
Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Constructive critiques of my pictures, and reposts in this forum for purposes of critique are welcome
"I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul....My mandate includes weird bugs."
--Calvin
Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Constructive critiques of my pictures, and reposts in this forum for purposes of critique are welcome
"I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul....My mandate includes weird bugs."
--Calvin
MikeB asked:
Thanks Mike
No, sorry there Mike but I didn't. The specimen was quite high up and it was just luck that I noticed it. I had to bend the tree limb down a bit and then break off the twig. At first it looked like a frozen caterpillar from a distance, as I got it closer, I knew immediately what I had found. I was surprised that the head was still intact. One of the eyes can be seen in this image at 1:1 with the Canon EF-100mm f/2.8 macro. I think it was probably a Katydid too!Did you get any environmental shots before you collected it?
Thanks Mike
Thanks Lauriek While living in the Philippines, I too contracted some form of infection during the first few weeks of my arrival. Either bacterial or fungal, I am not sure, it was indeed "flesh eating!" Upon walking or hobbling into "sickbay" and you've got to love these guys (corpmen/flight surgons), one of the first things you hear is, "My gawd! What is that, never seen anything like it!"lauriek wrote:I'm sure that was an X-files episode... (Well a human eating fungi, not necessarily an evolved cordyceps).I really hope that this fungi never mutates to humans.
Nice captures of a fascinating subject Ken!