It came from the mist!

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

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

Pizzazz
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:39 pm

It came from the mist!

Post by Pizzazz »

Hi Gang

A small green iridescent fly that is entering our reality!


Mike



Image

Lou Jost
Posts: 5944
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:03 am
Location: Ecuador
Contact:

Post by Lou Jost »

Scary!

Pizzazz
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:39 pm

Post by Pizzazz »

Lou

Imagine if they were larger enough that you had to "avoid" them!

Mike

iconoclastica
Posts: 486
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2016 12:34 pm
Location: Wageningen, Gelderland

Post by iconoclastica »

Even though blue is absent, there's a striking similarity of the eyes wit a bayer-grid. Does this have anything to do with colour vision?
--- felix filicis ---

Yawns
Posts: 400
Joined: Sun Dec 20, 2015 9:18 am
Location: Benavente, Portugal

Post by Yawns »

Pizzazz wrote:Lou

Imagine if they were larger enough that you had to "avoid" them!

Mike
I'm sure if some insects were bigger and more "visible" we would have some as pets, ... like we have parrots, and canaries and other animals...
YAWNS _ (Y)et (A)nother (W)onderful (N)ewbie (S)hooting

cube-tube
Posts: 107
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:50 am
Location: Durham, NC

Post by cube-tube »

Beautiful image... very tasteful colors and composition

Pizzazz
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:39 pm

Post by Pizzazz »

Cube Tube

Well thank you. I just wanted to do something a little different.

The forum really pushes us to try to do the best and think outside the box.

Mike

MarkSturtevant
Posts: 1946
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 6:52 pm
Location: Michigan, U.S.A.
Contact:

Post by MarkSturtevant »

Nice! I think this is a long-legged fly (Dolichopodidae).
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

CJFearn
Posts: 0
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2014 10:09 pm
Location: Germany
Contact:

Post by CJFearn »

Yawns wrote:
Pizzazz wrote:Lou

Imagine if they were larger enough that you had to "avoid" them!

Mike
I'm sure if some insects were bigger and more "visible" we would have some as pets, ... like we have parrots, and canaries and other animals...
We were at the pet show recently and people are doing just that with the large "stick bugs". :D

BugEZ
Posts: 850
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:15 pm
Location: Loves Park Illinois

Post by BugEZ »

Pizzazz,

Lovely image. Were this found in Rockford Illinois where I live I would say id is a Condylostylus patibulatus . If it were found in Florida, Hawaii or California probably Condylostylus longicornus . Without location or a wing/leg shot hard to say exact species. Definitely a Longlegged fly

I have photographed long legged fly eyes for nearly 10 years now. Big ones, tiny ones, fancy ones (like this lovely specimen) and plane ones. Scientists at NYU are interested in how the well ordered rows (the Bayer grid iconoclastica mentions) are regulated as the fly develops. They have done a number of experiments and confirmed that the color sensing cell type in the fly retina of each ommatidium (UV, green, blue, etc) is linked with the color we see from the outside. With most flies the color sensing cells are stochastically (randomly) distributed. This is the only Bayer grid found in nature that I am aware of. Human retinas have stochastic patterns.

BugEZ

Edit for typo

Pizzazz
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:39 pm

Post by Pizzazz »

BugEZ

I had to hold the specimen by its legs, and yes, they were quite long.
These guys sometimes land on my outside trash container lid, and one time
it took me over an hour to catch one and prep it for photos. I am
convinced they are teasing me.

Does the color of the eye benefit the fly?

Mike

BugEZ
Posts: 850
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:15 pm
Location: Loves Park Illinois

Post by BugEZ »

Pizzazz asked
Does the color of the eye benefit the fly?
We think so but don’t know exactly how. Some of the orderly pattern flies fish for larvae and nematodes in shallow puddles. Others catch prey (small midges) on the wing. Others eat small leaf lice and aphids off the tops of the foliage where they tend to hang out. The hierarchy of escape-hunt-breed does not provide a common visual denominator that we can easily recognize. The dolichopodidae know but are silent on the topic.

Generally, Mother Nature is not wasteful and traits that are not needed tend to disappear rather quickly. So my guess is that it definitely benefits the critter some way.

A good question and one I puzzle over often.

BugEZ
Posts: 850
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:15 pm
Location: Loves Park Illinois

Post by BugEZ »

Regarding “it took me over an hour to catch one”...

https://youtu.be/LQb6fyFMBzg

https://youtu.be/xuwslq2-AY4

For a long time I used a net. Then the graduate student the second video was made for showed me how to catch directly into a cup. Much quicker as the fly wrangling overhead of getting the fly in a cup is omitted.

K

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
Posts: 23561
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
Contact:

Post by rjlittlefield »

BugEZ wrote:...catch directly into a cup...
Once upon a time, I found myself without a net and wanting to catch some butterflies. In desperation I tried a small clear plastic bag, and found to my surprise that it worked great! My speculation is that the bag was transparent enough that the butterflies did not perceive it as a threat. Many of them did not even react as I slowly lowered the bag around them. Have you checked to see if completely clear plastic cups would work even better with your flies?

--Rik

Lou Jost
Posts: 5944
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:03 am
Location: Ecuador
Contact:

Post by Lou Jost »

"Generally, Mother Nature is not wasteful and traits that are not needed tend to disappear rather quickly. "
I agree, but some traits are just useless accidental consequences of other traits that do convey a selective advantage. For example, there's no selective advantage to blood being red, per se. This just happens to be the color of a chemical that works well for oxygen transport.

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic