Another Dragonfly nymph photographed in my aquarium setup. This one has a different body shape than the Darner dragonfly nymphs I've been posting recently. I need to work more on my ID skills for some of these, but I think this is one of the Skimmers (Family Libellulidae). 40D, 100 mm macro, 1/250, f/16, ISO 100, MT-24EX macro twin flash (diffused), tripod, cable release. I removed small bits of floating debris in the water and toned down the brightest areas of the bladderwort plant. All comments are welcome and appreciated.
Hi Steve, very nice and sharp. I like how you handled the busy surroundings of the nymph. I would be in favour of a closer crop, though. Based on the short and blunt abdomen, my bet is on the Libellulidae family, but I've never tied flies.......
Roy - I'm still learning these nymphs and I can't always see the key characteristics in a photo. After reviewing some of my reference materials, I don't think this is a gomphus (Family Gomphidae - Clubtails) - for several reasons. Gomphids have a flat labium (this one is spoon shaped), a very thick segment 3 on the antennae (this one is narrow), and typically a more tapering abdomen (this one is rather blunt). I'm learning this material as I type this and your comment led me to increase my knowledge a little more.
Hey Steve,
That is quite the set-up and you are getting great results!!! While I too generally prefer tighter crops.....in this case I feel if you lose the bit of open water space in the LLC....it might seem that the bug is too out of place.....so I would keep it as is. Another winner for sure and thanks for the ID lessons!