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Wheel bugs
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Wheel bugs

by Sandy Scott

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted December 10, 201375 views4 comments
This was a particularly challenging shot. These two creatures were tucked up under the eaves of my garage. I had no idea what they were, and I had to precariously perch on a ladder while hand holding my Canon 70D with Canon 100mm L Macro lens. Shot at 100mm, f14, 1/160, ISO 6400. Lighting was bad and I am not sure if the results are worth posting, but I did the best I could under the circumstances. Oh yes, after I got it out of my camera, a bit of research revealed the interesting story of these Wheel Bugs.

Comments

4 comments
Comment posted by scott lanz on December 10, 2013 at 6:55 PM
First for me, Sandy. Never saw Wheel bugs before. It's a good capture of these bugs with good detail. Just takes a bit a staring to determine what's what.
Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments
Comment posted by Sandy Scott on December 10, 2013 at 9:59 PM
Scott, I was taking a double a triple take when I was shooting them in that I was having a difficult time figuring out what I was looking at hanging on a ladder. I didn't even see their eyes until I got it out of the camera. Had to put a pic up on a bug ID forum to figure out what the heck they are. They are great bugs in that they eat damaging bugs. There is actually a sad story with this. I posted a picture of them on facebook asking for ID and was told that they were stink bugs. Stink bugs are very damaging to homes, etc., and after reading about them, I went out and killed them. I hate to kill anything for starters, but it seemed like the thing to do based on what they are and what they do. As soon as I did that, the report came back from the entomologists identifying them as bugs helpful to the environment. I felt terrible and still do a bit when I look at the pic. :redface:
Registered on December 6, 2013, 85 Posts, 345 Comments
Comment posted by Ramamohan Pai on December 10, 2013 at 10:06 PM
Sandy - Great action captured - they are quite aptly named :biggrin: .
Registered on November 1, 2003, 550 Posts, 9037 Comments
Comment posted by Sandy Scott on December 10, 2013 at 10:16 PM
Ram, yup they are named because of those wheel-like things protruding from their bodies. I have some more shots that show the wheels better, but I liked this one in that both bugs seemed to have their eye on the photographer! :smile:
Registered on December 6, 2013, 85 Posts, 345 Comments