Tachinid Fly Exorista larvarum In Action
e6filmuser
Registered Users Posts: 3,379 Major grins
We have a very dead, hollow apple tree trunk in our garden. Even the bracket fungi are no longer to be seen.
There is a lot of crumbly wood dust on various areas of the bark. Some is from drilling by the Greater Spotted Woodpecker, in search of insect prey. However, on this occasion, my attention was drawn to some horizontal holes, a few mm wide, outside each of which was more wood dust. The emergence of what looked like a tiny black wasp kept me watching. That is a story for another day.
I was distracted by a strikingly-marked fly which seemed to be persistently searching for something. Eventually, it began inserting its tail end into various holes (I presume) in the wood, clearly laying eggs. My viewpoint was restricted but I got some useful images.
On the sunny afternoon there was quite deep shade around area of bark where the activity was, so aiming the lens and getting the approximate focus was tricky.
EM-1 (manual mode), Printing Nikkor 105mm on extension for 1:1 at the sensor, 2:1 with m4/3 crop, f11, twin diffused TTL RC flash.
The last two images are a less dramatic image plus one of the location. The tiny hole at the top right, next to the brownish area is one of the wasp holes which first drew my attention.
Those twiggy bits are stems of mature Honeysuckle, with lots of sharp ends to scratch my face.
Harold
There is a lot of crumbly wood dust on various areas of the bark. Some is from drilling by the Greater Spotted Woodpecker, in search of insect prey. However, on this occasion, my attention was drawn to some horizontal holes, a few mm wide, outside each of which was more wood dust. The emergence of what looked like a tiny black wasp kept me watching. That is a story for another day.
I was distracted by a strikingly-marked fly which seemed to be persistently searching for something. Eventually, it began inserting its tail end into various holes (I presume) in the wood, clearly laying eggs. My viewpoint was restricted but I got some useful images.
On the sunny afternoon there was quite deep shade around area of bark where the activity was, so aiming the lens and getting the approximate focus was tricky.
EM-1 (manual mode), Printing Nikkor 105mm on extension for 1:1 at the sensor, 2:1 with m4/3 crop, f11, twin diffused TTL RC flash.
The last two images are a less dramatic image plus one of the location. The tiny hole at the top right, next to the brownish area is one of the wasp holes which first drew my attention.
Those twiggy bits are stems of mature Honeysuckle, with lots of sharp ends to scratch my face.
Harold
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Comments
Brian v.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/
http://www.lordv.smugmug.com/
Thanks, Brian.
This may be the last season for the tree, in situ anyway. It has multiple cracks and wobbles as though the roots have gone.
Harold
Thanks. Being prepared (hardware), and spending some time, occasionally gives access to unusual, sometimes exciting, material.
Harold