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melvynyeo — Robberfly with roach prey

#prey #roach #robberfly #with
Published: 2016-08-02 14:42:46 +0000 UTC; Views: 2631; Favourites: 107; Downloads: 0
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Description You can see the roach leg "juice" being slurp up by the robberfly. Taken in Malaysia forest (Day).

Quote from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asilidae
The Asilidae are the robber fly family, also called assassin flies. They are powerfully built, bristly flies with a short, stout proboscis enclosing the sharp, sucking hypopharynx.[1][2] The name "robber flies" reflects their notoriously aggressive predatory habits; they feed mainly or exclusively on other insects and as a rule they wait in ambush and catch their prey in flight.

The Asilidae are a family in the order Diptera, the true flies. The common name for members of the family is the robber flies. The Asilidae are cosmopolitan, with over 7000 described species. Latreille was the authority for establishing the family in 1802.[3] The Asilidae, together with Bombyliidae and Therevidae, are the most representative families of the superfamily of Asiloidea and they form one of the most characteristic groups of the lower Brachycera.

Robber flies have stout, spiny legs and they have three simple eyes (ocelli) in a characteristic depression on the top of their head between their two large compound eyes.[4] They also have a usually dense moustache of stiff bristles on the face; this is called the mystax, a term derived from the Greek mystakos meaning "moustache" or "upper lip". The mystax has been suggested to afford some protection for the head and face when the flies deal with struggling prey; various Asilidae prey on formidable species including stinging Hymenoptera, powerful grasshoppers, dragonflies and even other Asilidae, in fact practically anything of a suitable size. Some Asilidae do, however, specialise in smaller prey, and this is reflected in their more gracile build.

In general the family attacks a very wide range of prey, including other flies, beetles, butterflies and moths, various bees, ants, dragon and damselflies, ichneumon wasps, grasshoppers, and some spiders. They do so apparently irrespective of any repugnatorial chemicals the prey may have at its disposal.[5] Many Asilidae when attacked in turn do not hesitate to defend themselves with their proboscides and may deliver intensely painful bites if handled incautiously.
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Comments: 11

Octoboy-the-8th [2016-09-17 23:43:11 +0000 UTC]

This fly appears to have a moustache. Not the devious, twirlable kind, so clearly it's not the most cunning of villains, but it had mind enough to make a victim of that li'l roach. Excellent face shot!

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fotoponono [2016-08-04 01:22:44 +0000 UTC]

Stunning shot!

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SkyPotatoFire [2016-08-02 22:51:43 +0000 UTC]

Awesome!

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karz09 [2016-08-02 19:05:18 +0000 UTC]

Did you use extension tubes?

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melvynyeo In reply to karz09 [2016-08-03 06:54:23 +0000 UTC]

Now i seldom use. My older shots (more than 1 -2 year ago) i did use tubes and raynox 250 for macro. Now i only use raynox 250 together with my macro lens.

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karz09 In reply to melvynyeo [2016-08-03 07:35:08 +0000 UTC]

I use the same setup! What about the lighting? I still think I can't get my lighting right for most of the shots. 

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melvynyeo In reply to karz09 [2016-08-04 08:58:17 +0000 UTC]

I used to mount my 270ex on the hotshoe with a reflector on top. farm9.staticflickr.com/8483/82…

Now i mount my flash on the lens tripod mount with a flash cord. Both have similar lighting but with the flash slightly in front, i can lower my iso and reduce my flash output.

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karz09 In reply to melvynyeo [2016-08-04 12:36:41 +0000 UTC]

I use a yongnuo yn 568ex ii on ettl mode with a lumiquest mini softbox. Should I make any changes? I mostly shoot using these settings 1/250 f/13-16 iso 100

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melvynyeo In reply to karz09 [2016-08-04 13:46:10 +0000 UTC]

Your photos look ok to me. If you want to further diffuse your lighting, then the general rule is to bring your diffuser as close to the subjects as possible. The softbox mounted on your flash is too far away for 1:1 subjects. If possible, get some wraping foam and rubberband it to the front part of the lens.
farm3.staticflickr.com/2936/14…
farm6.staticflickr.com/5558/14…

you will get better lighting but downside is insect will get spooked easier.

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karz09 In reply to melvynyeo [2016-08-04 14:07:03 +0000 UTC]

Interesting..I will try moving the softbox closer.

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SkyLord-Sama [2016-08-02 14:43:57 +0000 UTC]

you little sh*t, now I'm hungry! 

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