Ant with many eyes

[damithc]

Ant with many eyes !!!?

comments welcome... yup, flash is too harsh

shot at NUS with panasonic FZ20 + Nikon 6T + Raynox DCR250 + ext flash + omnibounce

#1 (minding my own business)


#2 (you want a piece of me?)

[sil]

hmm.. may I ask how near are you from the subject with your setup? Thanks.

The ant does look like it has 6 eyes?!

[asturias105]

Hi, great to finally see you posting your pics up! one of those ant-mimicking spiders huh?

DOF a bit too shallow, but great attempt!

[aspire]

hi damithc, I would like to know if how much magnification does the DCR-250 give u?

[damithc]

thx guys for comments.
sil: DCR250 has a working distance of about 11cm
asturias105: want to shoot more, but hard to find time . and yes DOF is shallow at 12x zoom.
aspire: DCR250 gives 2.5x magnification. more info on raynox accessories for fz10/20...

[damithc]

some of the guys PM'ed me about DCR250 price and availability. given below is some info:

DCR250 is not available in SG (as far as i know). i got a friend to buy it for me from japan (around S$100), or can order online USD59.90+shipping. If you haven't already, i suggest you try 6T first. Though 6T is not as powerfull as DCR250, it has greater working distance (33cm as compared to DCR250's 11cm), less vignetting, cheaper (S$75) and it's locally available (lords at lucky plaza).

[chaltan]

Actually, this looks like a spider camouflaged as an ant to prey on the ants. That's mimicry.

Dunno the name, cos I'm no arachnid expert but lots of these "wolves in sheeps clothings" animals in nature. Chances are that it belongs to the Mymarachne family of Ant-Mimicking Jumping Spiders that are common in Singapore.

Never failed to fascinate me.

[adrian_wee]

And apart from tricking the ants into easy meals, it actually gains protection from looking like an ant!...
"A more plausible explanation is that by copying the physical appearance of ants, the ant-mimicking Jumping Spiders are actually buying insurance for self-protection, since spider-hunting wasps, birds and other spider-predators generally avoid ants which secrete the distasteful formic acid when attacked." Koh, A Guide to Common Spiders in Singapore

[damithc]

Originally Posted by adrian_wee And apart from tricking the ants into easy meals, it actually gains protection from looking like an ant!... "A more plausible explanation is that by copying the physical appearance of ants, the ant-mimicking Jumping Spiders are actually buying insurance for self-protection, since spider-hunting wasps, birds and other spider-predators generally avoid ants which secrete the distasteful formic acid when attacked." Koh, A Guide to Common Spiders in Singapore

thx for the info adrian_wee. it seems nature has wonderful tricks up her sleeve. this reminds me, once they showed on discovery channel a flower that has an appendage that resembles (and smells like!) the sex organ of a female fly. The male fly plays along (meaning does his 'thing' with the flower ) in the process transferring pollen from one flower to the other. imagine that !!!

[tchuanye]

Good capture of the insect damthic!

For #1: you got the eyes in focus right! but the flash seems abit harsh
#2:is nice! DOF is real shallow though....

[damithc]

Originally Posted by tchuanye Good capture of the insect damthic! For #1: you got the eyes in focus right! but the flash seems abit harsh #2:is nice! DOF is real shallow though....

thx a lot for the comments. all points noted. BTW, you are my inspiration !!! It after seeing your macros with FZ10 that decided to buy an FZ20