INVERTEBRATES



 WASP BUILDING NEST
A bright red coloured wasp building its nest. The nest is built using its saliva, which is first mixed with mud like constituents and made into a paste. Notice the bright red colour of the wasp; brightly coloured insects are a visual indication to potential predators that the insect is poisonous or has an unpleasant taste. Birds quickly learn to avoid such insects based on such visual signs.
P.S.- I had to great dangerously close to this wasp to photograph its close-up. Believe me, the magnified view of its sting at the back was terrifying. 

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/100s
Focal length: 60-360mm
Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)
Location: Jaipur, Rajasthan




ON THE EDGE
Extreme macro shot of a common housefly. It was sitting on the edge of a razor thin leaf. Notice the beautiful maroon compound eyes, the proboscis sticking out of its mouth, and the thin hairy legs. Even a small housefly is God's engineering marvel.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/9
Shutter Speed: 1/200s

Focal length: Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS lens

Camera: Canon EOS 500D (on tripod)

Location: Jaipur, Rajasthan




EXTREME MACRO OF STICK INSECT
This is probably a stick insect which was sitting alongside a couple of tree twigs. Notice how well coloured the body of this insect is, to camouflage it. This shot is infact a manifold magnified view of this tiny creature. Even minute details which go unnoticed, like its beautiful raised eye sockets are distinctly visible.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/9
Shutter Speed: 1/200s

Focal length: Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS lens

Camera: Canon EOS 500D (hand held)

Location: Jaipur, Rajasthan





GRASSHOPPER MACRO SHOT
Macro shot of a Grasshopper. Notice its leafy green colour which makes it invisible in its surroundings. It is almost covered by real leaves.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/3.5

Shutter Speed: 1/30s

Focal length: 60-360mm

Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location: Jaipur, Rajasthan




YELLOW WASP
This is a macro shot of a yellow coloured wasp. Notice its lovely shining yellow eyes and brown wings. 

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/4.3
Shutter Speed: 1/640s
Focal length: 60-360mm

Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location: Satpura biosphere reserve, Madhya Pradesh




LITTLE HONEY BEE
This is a little honey bee sitting on a leaf with its transparent wings spread out. Notice the beautiful yellow bands on its body, and the greenish-reddish tinge on its wings.


IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/3.2
Shutter Speed: 1/60s

Focal length: 60-360mm

Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location: Satpura biosphere reserve, Madhya Pradesh





RED BEETLE ON GREEN LEAF
A red coloured beetle, probably a Ladybird, sitting on a green leaf. Notice the stark contrast in the colours of the insect and the leaf.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/160s

Focal length: 60-360mm

Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location: Satpura biosphere reserve, Madhya Pradesh




HONEY BEE COMB
A single colony of honey bees. It might contain as many as thousands of honey bees, and if provoked, they can be extremely aggressive, and can deliver very nasty bites.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/4.3
Shutter Speed: 1/30s
Focal length: 60-360mm

Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location: Satpura biosphere Reserve, Madhya Pradesh





LEAF COLOURED BUTTERFLY
This is a beautiful leafy green butterfly, almost impossible to spot in thick foliage due to its excellent camouflage. Here it is sucking nectar from flowers.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/4.3
Shutter Speed: 1/500s

Focal length: 60-360mm

Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location: Jaipur, Rajasthan




I SAW YOU--TOUCH ME NOT!
One of my favourite photographs, this is a moth found in mountainous central India. Notice how well it is camouflages in its surroundings, all because of its muddy- rocky brown colour. Further, it has "eye-spots" on its wings, used to warn predators, who are mistaken into thinking that the eyes of some bigger organism. Whoa! wonderful design of nature. This photograph featured in the National Geographic's Jury's shortlist of 400 photographs from about a hundred and four thousand photographs from all over the country submitted to the Nat Geo Moment Awards-2010.


IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/30s

Focal length: 60-360mm

Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location: Satpura biosphere Reserve, Madhya Pradesh




THE DELICATE DRAGONFLY
A close up shot of a mountain dragonfly. Note that all the individual body parts are visible: head with delicate eyes, thorax with wings protruding out, abdomen behind the thorax, the delicate pattern of nets sculpted on the wings, and the thin hairy legs. The existence of identifiable distinct head, thorax and abdomen show that the Dragonfly is an insect: an organism whose body is segmented into distinct, individual parts. This photograph featured in the National Geographic's Jury's shortlist of 400 photographs from about a hundred and four thousand photographs from all over the country submitted to the Nat Geo Moment Awards-2010.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/30s
Focal length: 60-360mm

Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location: Satpura biosphere Reserve, Madhya Pradesh
  



THE EMPEROR DRAGONFLY
An Emperor dragonfly perching on a wall inside a cave, whose other inhabitants are bats (click the "Mammals" tab above to view them). The cave was located alongside a pond fed by numerous streams, making it an ideal habitat for this emperor.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/25s

Focal length: 60-360mm

Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location: Panna National Park, Madhya Pradesh




THE PATTERN OF DEPTH
The most interesting thing about this shot of a grasshopper is that it has a three dimensional (3D) quality to it. You can almost judge the depth when you look into it. The leaves on which the grasshopper is resting add to the drama of depth. This is what makes this 2-D photograph, virtually 3-D.'

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/60s

Focal length: 60-360mm

Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location: Jaipur, Rajasthan





MACRO SHOT OF HOUSEFLY
This is a macro shot of a common housefly. In our everyday lives, these tiny creatures may be irritating, but in the world of photomacrography, they assume a completely different form. Notice the beautiful contrast of the red eyes of the housefly and the fresh green of the leaves.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/60s

Focal length: 60-360mm

Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location:Jaipur, Rajasthan




FLUID SOULS, FRAGILE LIVES
This is one of my other favourite shots. Being an extreme macro of an insect, it shows the thin hair on its legs and even its dropped eyes (close to the leaves,black in colour). Observe its legs carefully and the caption of this image will be justified. The legs and the body are translucent and appear to be juicy, filled with fluid and you can almost see through them. I think this photograph symbolises the fragile and delicate lives of insects which are usually ignored as "dirty bugs". The fluidity of their lives as seen here, is a reminder that they too form an integral part of the biosphere and deserve equal respect as any other organism.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/3.2
Shutter Speed: 1/60s

Focal length: 60-360mm

Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location:Jaipur, Rajasthan





BUTTERFLY
A beautiful butterfly, camouflaged wonderfully, almost invisible among the yellow flowers, where she can suck sweet nectar peacefully. Butterflies are in general, difficult subjects to photograph, and they usually start fluttering the moment you release the shutter. But patience and persistence certainly help.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/4.3
Shutter Speed: 1/800s

Focal length: 60-360mm

Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location: Satpura biosphere Reserve, Madhya Pradesh




MACRO SHOT OF A COMMON TERRESTRIAL LEECH
This is a common leech which can be seen in gardens during rainy season. Their bodies are composed of 34 segments, all of which have oral suckers on them. They are infamous for even secreting an anesthetic on the wound, so that the host does not feel leech bites. Further, an anti clotting enzyme hirudin is secreted into the blood.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/4
Shutter Speed: 1 second
Focal length: 60-360mm
Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)
Location: Jaipur, Rajasthan


 

FLYING SPIDER?
No this is not a flying spider. It is just a common spider spinning its web. The web is almost always invisible provided it does not reflect light. It is this invisible web which forms a deadly trap from which their is no escape for a prey.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/4
Shutter Speed: 1/60s
Focal length: 60-360mm
Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)
Location: Jaipur, Rajasthan




THE UNIVERSE IN AN EYE
This is an extreme macro shot of a grasshopper's head. Notice its wonderful cloudy mysterious eyes. It seems, as if the entire universe is embedded in them.

IMAGE DATA
Aperture: f/4.5
Shutter Speed: 1/25s
Focal length: 60-360mm
Camera: Canon Power Shot SX 100 IS (hand held)

Location: Jaipur, Rajasthan


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