Nature’s pretend soldiers
Recently, the rain stopped for long enough that I had enough time to get out and take some shots. Even though the weather was less than ideal, I have taken shots in my backyard long enough that I have a good idea where to find interesting things. On the wall of my shed, I was pleased to find a solitary leafhopper. It was a bit high up so it was tricky getting shots of it but I managed to get a few frames before it flew away.
I’ve always rather liked leafhoppers. Many of the insects here are rather drab, but leafhoppers are remarkably beautiful – particularly when photographed from the side. However, I have had a tremendously difficult time trying to get a good shot of one from the side. Given that this one was on the shed rather than on a leaf (which I could accidentally bump), I tried getting side shots.
When I uploaded the pictures onto my machine, however, I was rather bummed that I didn’t get the angles I was hoping for. I was ready to delete the shots when I noticed something peculiar. Can you see it?
Yup, on the back of it we have a little army guy! There’s a light green face in the center with a straight mouth and two eyes and above the face is a rounded army helmet! Perhaps this is nature’s attempt at mimicry. The next time some human goes to squash this bug – he’ll mistake it for an army soldier and not squash it! Actually, I’m sure this is a natural defense, though I doubt that humans are the intended target. Perhaps the intent is to make the insect look larger, though I suspect the goal is to make a potential predator think it is looking back at it. In this case a further away shot would probably contain the clue – but I did not take one from further away (the MP-E 65 is a close-up lens).
Here’s another shot of it with a bit of the side view.
Here it looks like the army soldier is wrapped up in a sleeping bag (the wings are the bag). One final shot of this peculiar phenomenon.
You have to hand it to nature when it has such a sense of humor.
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Tags: leafhopper, mimicry, nature, photography
I love it! It looks like a soldier pulling a green cape around himself. Great shots – I’m glad I found you through Tom’s blog site. I look forward to seeing some of your other photos!
I found your blog via Mon@rch. Just wondering if I could ask you a question. I am planning to dabble in wildlife photography in the future, so I was wondering what camera you would recommend for a beginner photographer? I would want one that is digital, relatively inexpensive, and has a fast shutter time. Any suggestions?
@ Sherri – thanks for the comment! This blog has become quite fun. Keep watching as I already have blogs for all of next week.
@Tomek – this isn’t an easy question to answer. It depends what type of photography. Wildlife generally requires telephotos not found on point and shoots and can get quite expensive. Macro shots can be taken with point and shoots and is less expensive. The Canon Digital Rebel series is a good SLR to start out with, but you may want to look at the Canon G9 to start with. If you want more info e-mail me privately as this isn’t an easy question to answer. Eventually I hope to have a blog about this.
Amazing photos and they do look like little soldiers! @Tomek – note that Joe is a Cannon guy where I am a Nikon guy!
Don’t be bummed about your photos. I really like the little face peering out from under the helmet. I saw it before I read your post. Very nice.
I am a point and shoot Cannon girl. My camera has a macro on it. If I want a better picture than I can take I ask my Dearly Beloved to take it. Usually I just go with my pas.
LOL That is cool. I’d have probably deleted without even noticing. Nice macro.
When you are starting out it just does not matter what camera you have. Just start shooting! Today’s digital cameras are just fantastic! And the fact there are no film developing costs, means you can just shoot away, deleting all the unwanted images.
But once you start looking at nature…you get drawn in more and more. That’s when you start looking at the camera you have, wondering if you should buy something better, or maybe another lens?
Both Nikon and Canon are fantastic. But it’s the quality of the lens that you select (and invest in) that will really make your pictures.
Thanks for all the help guys.
Wonderful patterns on the back of this leafhopper and super color. Getting the right angle is tough with a lens like the MP-E 65 – you are really close to the subject, which can be limiting.
I noticed you are thinking of getting a Canon 180L. It’s a great lens, and you will work at much more of a distance from the subject, giving you more freedom to compose. With an added teleconverter, a 180L gets pretty good magnification (2x). You should also look at the Sigma 180/3.5 and Sigma 150/2.8, which are excellent as well. Good luck with butterflies!
@Chris and Tomek – I agree entirely that you can’t go wrong with either Canon or Nikon. With wildlife photography – the real investment is in lenses.