Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Midge

  1. #1
    BPN Member Steve Maxson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Bemidji, Minnesota
    Posts
    5,801
    Threads
    818
    Thank You Posts

    Default Midge

    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    This Midge (Order: Diptera, Family: Chironomidae) was photographed on Tansy flowers along the shore of Lake Superior. Midges spend most of their life cycle as aquatic larvae (often called bloodworms). At the appropriate time in the summer, (each species has its own timing) they emerge synchronously as adults to live for only a few days until they are finished breeding. These emergences can consist of many millions of individuals and they are an important food source for breeding birds. Though they look superficially like mosquitoes (much to the chagrin of people not familiar with these insects!) they do not bite and are completely harmless. 40D, Canon 180mm macro,1/250, f/16, ISO 400, macro twin flash, hand held, auto focus. Comments are welcome.

  2. #2
    BPN Viewer Dave Leroy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Delta, BC
    Posts
    3,789
    Threads
    380
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Very nice photo Steve. The midge looks very good with a nice tight focus. I really like the yellows. It looks like you have handled them very well. Interesting story to boot. Well done. Dave

  3. #3
    BPN Viewer
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Auranagabad ( MS ) India
    Posts
    12,833
    Threads
    766
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Interesting story , nice colors and good sharpness
    TFS

  4. #4
    Julie Kenward
    Guest

    Default

    Lovely yellows in this image, Steve! Your exposure, DOF, crystal clear details all work. My one thought for possibly improving the image a bit would be to remove/clone out the small partial flower at the bottom of the frame in the way of the stem. Not sure if you could clone the stem from one of the other plants, though - it might be more trouble than its worth.

    Very nice image overall...

  5. #5
    Connie Mier
    Guest

    Default

    Interesting insect, but I sure do like those yellow plants. Very nice details and I like how you composed the shot. I might be tempted to get rid of the little web strings.

  6. #6
    Forum Participant
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    765
    Threads
    32
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Lovely image Steve. Sharp and I love the colours. Great comp and bg too. We have similar midges here and I have a shot of a male with the long feathery antennae. I was wondering if you know if there is a difference between a midge and a gnat or maybe it is the same thing?:)

  7. #7
    BPN Member Steve Maxson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Bemidji, Minnesota
    Posts
    5,801
    Threads
    818
    Thank You Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Vida van der Walt View Post
    I was wondering if you know if there is a difference between a midge and a gnat or maybe it is the same thing?:)
    Hi Vida. Technically, a midge and a gnat are different things, but here we run into the issue of using common names rather than scientific names. For example, what many people over here call gnats are more appropriately called black flies or biting midges/"no-see-ums." Both of these are small biting flies and are in different Families than midges. We also have Dark-winged Fungus Gnats and Fungus Gnats in yet two other Families. It is entirely possible that many people refer to midges as gnats and the usage of these common names could be very different in your part of the world than over here. Hope this helps. :)

  8. #8
    Gordon Craig
    Guest

    Default

    I love the composition. The insect is perfectly placed.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Web Analytics