Nicky Bay

That's why they are called selfie sticks

Superman wannabe

A little busy with work now so I'm holding off trips for a bit. I'll be hunting for eyeless huntsman spiders towards the end of the year!

Let's do BugShot in the tropics! Did you go to Costa Rica?

On a good day, I should scream more. Either when I find something cool and screaming at everyone else to come over, or screaming nuuuuuuu for not telling me when they find something cool just next to me. 😂

The specific epithet vaginatus is derived from Latin, meaning "sheath". Not too uncommonly used in the naming of animals and plants.

Here are 3 incredibly beautiful mantids that I saw last month.

Toxodera fimbriata
Paratoxodera meggitti
Hymenopus coronatus

All of them are Dundubia vaginata.

No, single shots. They are quite big.

The larvae will go after spider eggs.

Here are 3 beautiful mantidflies that I saw last month!

They are neither mantises nor flies; their larvae are parasitoids of spider eggs, and these adults appear to mimic wasps.

Euclimacia rufocincta
Tuberonotha sp.
Euclimacia sp.

A pair of treehoppers tending to their eggs. The dorsal fin seems to be variable, as we've seen individuals nearby without any dorsal fin at all. Some also have a red longitudinal stripe on their wings.

Pyrgauchenia sp.

Gunung Trusmadi, Sabah, Malaysia

Black-femur Selenocosmia, a mini gorilla.

EM10m4, Laowa 50mm 2:1, dual Raynox, 2.1mm cctv fisheye, lighted with Godox V350 diffused, handheld without looking through the viewfinder nor LCD screen. Working distance about 1cm to its face.

Sure, here are some shots of the male and some with the pair.

Other photos are here if you need more:
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Thanks! Are there any images online of the little blobs with legs? How do they mate with others after the permanent anchor to the plant?

The primary eyes of spiders are known to exhibit a pigment ring shortly after ecdysis (moulting). During this phase, the lens grows until the pigment ring is no longer visible.

The pigment rings are typically more visible in salticids and deinopids.

This is the mystery spider egg sac covered with a veil of pink silk that was determined to be woven by a Poltys based on several rounds of discussion on iNaturalist and Twitter.

Thanks to @arachnonaut.bsky.social for the lead!

The biology of scale insects is a mystery to me. What's their life cycle like? How do they eat? How do they mate? How do they lay eggs? What do their larvae look like? How do they even move?

Your illustration seems to be of Pyrops gunjii instead. The apical process (snout) can lose its original colour in preserved specimens.

Thanks Naufal! We also have specimens from Borneo and peninsular Malaysia, but nobody knows what they are.

Has anyone seen and identified these large (~10mm) male araneids before? Longitudinal fovea, shoulder horns and stout tibia II with a distal pair of spines.

Not many araneids have large males so that narrows down quite a bit. Specimens found in Singapore.

Taking a pause on lantern bugs. Not sure what's next so here's a pleasing fungus beetle (why pleasing?) from the Peruvian Amazon. It's blue, so enjoy it!

Probably Cypherotylus debauvei, previously under the genus Gibbifer.

Macro Highlights – The Best of 2024 - Macro Photography by Nicky Bay 2024 has been a very special year. For many of us, going to another country for macro photography is a huge endeavor which involves a myriad of work and family logistics planning while we are away. Mo...

I happen to photograph stuff other than lantern bugs. Which is your favourite?

www.nickybay.com/macro-highli...

Dorsal views of both species for those who might be interested.

Not a parent caring for its young, but 2 species of lantern bugs from Ecuador.
The smaller Scaralis cf. nigronotata had scampered under Scaralis cf. picta for shelter.

Some trees attract more lantern bugs. We found at least 4 species on this tree alone. Yummy sap?

I have no idea. But the waxy coatings do come off when rubbed. That's why older specimens tend to have thinner waxy coatings.

Olympus EM10-m4, Laowa 50mm 2:1, Godox V350o

I have links to each piece of equipment here
www.nickybay.com/macro-equipm...

Pyrops clavatus is typically covered with a white waxy layer, but has one of the largest bulbous tips at the end of its "snout".

Are you all sick of my lantern bug posts yet? What should I focus on next? 😅

I found this beautiful pair of Pyrops intricatus on this tree and waited for several hours in hope that they would... you know you know.

But it didn't happen.

Zanna nobilis is a unique saw-toothed lantern bug with multiple tubercles lining its "snout". If you look up close, you would see patterns like those found on a blue-ringed octopus.

"adorning". typo error! or auto-incorrect? hmmmm