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View Full Version : Tent caterpillers on parsnip



Dan Brown
07-12-2008, 01:21 AM
I'm not sure what insect is responsible for these web-like tents covering these plants. Anyone know? An area about 15 feet by 5 feet was completely covered in this tent structure. Captured with a tripod mounted Nikon D200, 80-400mmVR, at 240mm, 1/500, f11, ISO 400, manual exp. PP with CS3.

Dan Brown

Kaushik Balakumar
07-12-2008, 04:53 AM
Oh oh - it looks amazing. Have never seen this before. Am at awe. Nature has so many surprises in store for us.
Would be very interested if somebody could throw more light on it...
Thanks for sharing this one Dan.

Tony Kirkby
07-12-2008, 05:48 AM
Hi Dan

Are you sure there are no spaceships nearby? It looks very alien!

Tony

Julie Kenward
07-12-2008, 05:50 AM
I had something like this happen in my front yard once and never did figure out what was to blame. I thought it was spiders at the time but could very well be caterpillars now that I think about it.

I think I would have liked this a little better with the aperture stopped down a bit more. The FG (foreground) and the BG (background) are a bit distracting for me but I have no idea other than aperture change how you would have made the image better. There is so much going on!

Gus Cobos
07-12-2008, 08:11 AM
Great capture, composition and image Dan,
I like this alot. It looks like the enchanted forest...:eek::D I like the colors and details...:cool:

Steve Foss
07-12-2008, 09:18 AM
Dan, neat image. The eastern tent caterpillar typically spins its web home in the crotch of a branch of a tree, then comes out during the day to feed on the tree's leaves before heading back to spend the night in the web. Cool, rainy days also keep the caterpillars at home.

My reading indicates that if the desirable species of trees aren't available, the caterpillars will feed on other plants, so it's sure possible that's what you have here. Only way to be sure would be to find a caterpillar (if that's what's making these), photograph it and check its ID.

I don't know where you live or where this was photographed, but in Minnesota I rely on the University of Minnesota State Extension Service for information on this kind of thing. Most states have some version of it. You could contact your state extension service -- or the nearest university with a botany or entomology program -- and e-mail an image to them.

Dan Brown
07-12-2008, 11:18 AM
Thanks to all! Here's a closer shot. I see little red things on the flower heads etc. I zoomed in and can just make out that these may be the culperts! I'm thinking spider mites! I will revisit the scene of the crime and try to shoot some real closeups tomorrow and post them. Dan Brown

Steve Foss
07-12-2008, 01:49 PM
They sure do look like red spider mites, and those mites do cast webs.

Bruce Murden
07-12-2008, 02:00 PM
Interesting alien landscape! You can probably find several additional good comps with this infestation. I'm with Julie that there are some distractions. You may have been able to shoot from a little higher to eliminate the FG, but you may have lost the top of the MG flowers in a more chatic BG. Also, I'd clone out the bright out of focus flower head in UR. You may also consider some vignetting to reduce how much the OOF FG draws the eye.

Now after your hints, I think you may be right about these being red spider mites. Closer inspection should tell. But from here it looks like they are on wild carrot, or Queen Anne's Lace, not a parsnip or wild parsnip. QAL has white flowers in this tight formation, but the only parsnips I'm familiar with have yellow flowers, and not as tight a grouping.

Kaushik Balakumar
07-12-2008, 02:46 PM
... I will revisit the scene of the crime and try to shoot some real closeups tomorrow and post them. Dan Brown

Dan, I shall eagerly look forward to ur next post for some more close-ups :)
Thanks for posting the one above. They are very interesting. The web looks like curtains & r so beautiful.
I'm getting to see such strange & new things...

Dan Brown
07-12-2008, 03:36 PM
Thanks Bruce, Yes, Queen Anns Lace it is. I actually looked it up and refered to photos showing the leaves, QAL for sure. So, "Red Spider Mites on Queen Anns Lace" would be a better title. I should have added several ????'s to the original title!!
Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get some closeups of these little guys.

As for the distractions, here's another image without so many things in the BG. Dan Brown

John Cooper
07-13-2008, 02:19 AM
An intriguing image Dan - looks quite alien but well portrayed here. Can't say I've seen anything like it here down-under!!

The reposts are outstanding examples of this phenomena - great effort Dan!!

Bruce Murden
07-13-2008, 09:32 AM
Really like the repost Dan!

Dan Brown
07-13-2008, 09:07 PM
This is definately a Red Spider Mite infestation! on Queen Anns Lace. I shot the above images with a tripod mounted macro focusing rail attached to a Nikon D200 with a 200mm f4 Micro Nikkor manual focus lens + a TC14B + 95mm of tubes + a Nikon 3T diopter lens + a 4T diopter lens (whew!!), 1/400th at f32 (effective aperture probably f128!), ISO 100, handheld flash - Nikon SB800 TTL auto, full power +1 stop. This is not the best high mag. setup, but it worked ok.

This was not easy photography! getting into focusing range and then holding the flash while the little buggers were running around, a breeze was blowing a little (like a hurricane at 3X!!) and the focus was drifting! Thank goodness for TTL auto!! I prefer bird photography any day!

Dan Brown

Mike Moats
07-14-2008, 06:25 AM
Hey Dan, this is very cool, and you did a nice job on the repost. Well done.

Dan Brown
07-18-2008, 08:13 PM
Thanks all for looking and comments. FYI, this infestation was short-lived, I revisited the area yesterday and the webbing is almost completely gone! I was lucky to find it. Dan Brown

Anita Rakestraw
07-20-2008, 04:04 AM
Wow, Dan, what an interesting group of images here!! I like the reposts better than the original post! And you sure got some revealing shots of those pesty little red spider mites! This place is so educational and informative, I love this stuff!! Thanks for posting!

Lana Hays
07-20-2008, 05:04 AM
Dan
I've been fascinated with this.....from the first post until the repost. I agree....very educational and informative. I especially love the repost.....showing the different views. Well done.