Mating chalcid wasp bundle

Lord VetinariLord Vetinari Registered Users Posts: 15,901 Major grins
edited June 7, 2010 in Holy Macro
Noticed little groups of "flies" swarming above some columbine flowers in the garden. Turned out to be tiny chalcid wasps around 2.7mm body length. They eventually sorted themselves out in mating pairs but the male in this case seemed more interested in getting a good view of the countryside :).
Wonder if the mating actually occurs quickly in the bundle but the victorious male stays in position to prevent further mating whilst waiting for the female to egg lay ?
No idea what the link is with columbine flowers but the same thing was going on in my neighbours garden and I saw the same thing happen last year.
Brian v.

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Brian V.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/
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Comments

  • ArrowsmithArrowsmith Registered Users Posts: 60 Big grins
    edited June 4, 2010
    Beautiful shots, Brian. It nothing short of amazing how you can get these "action" shots with what must be an extremely short working distance.

    Bill
    Bill B.
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  • clicketf3clicketf3 Registered Users Posts: 216 Major grins
    edited June 4, 2010
    Awesome shots. Like #3
  • Lord VetinariLord Vetinari Registered Users Posts: 15,901 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2010
    Thanks for the comments. :)

    Bill - one thing about shooting very small bugs is they often don't take much notice of what you are doing especially when they have other things on their mind.
    Brian v.
    Brian V.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/
    http://www.lordv.smugmug.com/
  • ArrowsmithArrowsmith Registered Users Posts: 60 Big grins
    edited June 5, 2010
    Lord Vetinari wrote: »
    Thanks for the comments. :)

    Bill - one thing about shooting very small bugs is they often don't take much notice of what you are doing especially when they have other things on their mind.
    Brian v.

    Brian,

    Sadly, almost any movement at all is a "deal-breaker" for me. :(

    Your focus and sharpness are awesome (as always). I suppose another benefit of shooting small bugs is that more of their bodies are in focus when you have minimal DOF.

    Bill
    Bill B.
    _______________

    Nikon D40
    Nikon SB-400, SB-21, SC-17
    Micro-Nikkor-P Auto 55 f/3.5, Micro-Nikkor 105 f/4, Tamron 90mm f/2.8, Nikon EL-nikkor 50 f/2.8
    Nikon F Bellows Model II
    Nikon E2, M, M2, PN-1 tubes

    Flickr
  • firewirefirewire Registered Users Posts: 32 Big grins
    edited June 5, 2010
    Beautiful captures!
  • Lord VetinariLord Vetinari Registered Users Posts: 15,901 Major grins
    edited June 6, 2010
    Arrowsmith wrote: »
    Brian,

    Sadly, almost any movement at all is a "deal-breaker" for me. :(

    Your focus and sharpness are awesome (as always). I suppose another benefit of shooting small bugs is that more of their bodies are in focus when you have minimal DOF.

    Bill

    The flash duration should be enough to stop any movement, but the DOF just gets thinner and thinner as the magnification goes up so I suspect you end up with the same amount of the bug in focus.
    Brian v.
    Brian V.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/
    http://www.lordv.smugmug.com/
  • Lord VetinariLord Vetinari Registered Users Posts: 15,901 Major grins
    edited June 6, 2010
    firewire wrote: »
    Beautiful captures!

    Thanks :)
    Brian v.
    Brian V.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/
    http://www.lordv.smugmug.com/
  • GOLDENORFEGOLDENORFE Super Moderators Posts: 4,747 moderator
    edited June 7, 2010
    superb series, i need to look for more tiny bugs
    phil
    Phil

    moderator - Holy Macro
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