My First Springtail!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we interrupt our usual postings of jumping spiders for this special capture - my first springtail.

If you would like to find out more about springtail, check it out here on Wikipedia.

I've shot springtail before but only when they came into the frame when i was shooting something else, like when shooting an ant. :D

This one was 2mm long excluding the antennae. To be honest, I lost it when attempting the high mag shots. I had to zoom out to 1:1 again on my MP-E65 to re-position my lens and zoom in again slowly from there.





this is how it looked like at 1:1 :D. I wouldn't have seen it if it wasn't moving at that time. But it did settle down for me to shoot.


It's been IDed as Collembola: Paronellinae by Frans.

Watch a short clip from Life in the Undergrowth  DVD here.

All images were shot with a Canon 40D, Canon MPE65 1X-5X Macro Lens and Canon MT24EX Twin Flash.

Getting to know your macro subjects!

Macro is a bit like portraiture, except instead of working with a human models, you work with insects.

In portraiture, you want to get to know your models, help them relax, pose them and bring out the best in them. Same for insects. Okay, you can't really make insects pose if they don't want to, but knowing as much as you can about them help you in finding them, approaching them (without spooking them) and increasing one's appreciation for these amazing insects.

One way of getting to know your insect models is by watching this incredible DVD by BBC, narrated by the great Sir David Attenborough.

Life in the Undergrowth

This is just one of the clips i found on youtube. You can find a few more from the same "Life In The Undergrowth" DVD.


Of course, knowing them well is one thing. Putting them in good light is another thing altogether. Make sure you read up on:

1. Tips on shooting with natural light.
2. Tips on full flash macro photography
3. Flash exposure compensation (FEC) in macro
4. Macro Light diffusion (mainly for the MT24EX but can be adapted to suit the working distance of your lens)

Highly recommended:

Wonderful jumping spiders of Malaysia :)

Jumping spiders must the be cutest spiders of all. Period. :D

All taken with a Canon 40D, Canon MPE65 , Canon MT24EX Twin Flash.

A female Epeus sp? Guarding her precious eggs...awww....<3


The same loving mother with her lovely bunch of spiderlings <3333


Viciria sp. jumping spider life cycle: eggs to spiderlings. Complete series here.


A female Telamonia sp?


A male Telamonia sp.


A female Siler sp.?


A male Viciria sp.


Portia sp.


Ant Mimic Jumping spider, Myrmarachne sp. Check out more amazing ant-mimic jumping spiders here.


A female, Thiana sp.


A male Thiana sp. jumping spider?


A male Bavia sp. ?


A female Bavia sp.?


Looks quite similar in shape to the previous one.


No ID yet:


Yellow and translucent, probably similar to the previous one but recently molted?


A female Pystira sp.


A female Bathippus sp. Single 270EX for lighting. Find out more here.


A female Orsima ichneumon


A male Orsima ichneumon jumping spider


Male Viciria sp. jumping spider


Jumping spider with caterpillar prey


Portriat of a Phaeacius sp. jumping spider


Jumping spider with nursery web spider prey


Yellow jumping spider


Jumping spider, Rhene sp. ?


Jumping spider with arms like Hercules, Harmochirus brachiatus.


Cute little jumping spider, no ID yet.


Lovely electric green on this one.




Myrmarachne elongata ant-mimic jumping spider, male. More amazing ant mimics here.


A male Bathippus sp. jumping spider


More jumping spiders here.

More spiders related posts:

1. Ant-mimic crab spider eating weaver ant
2. More ant-mimic spiders
3. Wonderful jumping spiders
4. Ant-mimic crab spider - mating!
5. Male red ant-mimic jumping spider
6. Tropical spiders
7. Jumping spider life cycle
8. Lichen huntsman life cycle

Red and black ant-mimic jumping spider!

Yes, another ant-mimic jumping spider. Another first for me. Not seen this red and black type of ant-mimic jumping spider before.

Surely it's a mimicry of the Tetraponera rufonigra ant? That ant is also known as semut selangor, or MC Ant in Malaysia :D...yes..there are people who intentionally get themselves bitten by the ants just to get a medical certificate in order to get a day off work :D.

thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/4/17/nation/3700...

thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/4/15/nation/3697...









If you would like to see more spiders, check these out:

1. Ant-mimic crab spider eating weaver ant
2. More ant-mimic spiders
3. Wonderful jumping spiders
4. Ant-mimic crab spider - mating!
5. Male red ant-mimic jumping spider
6. Tropical spiders
7. Jumping spider life cycle
8. Lichen huntsman life cycle

All images shot with a Canon 40D, Canon MPE65 1X-5X macro lens and Canon MT24EX Twin Flash with DIY Diffuser.

Myrmarachne plataleoides again!

A female this time. What wonderful looking ant-mimic jumping spiders they are :) Gotta love them.









A male one would look like this. Look at those chelicerae LOL.


All images shot with a Canon 40D, Canon MPE65 1X-5X macro lens and Canon MT24EX Twin Flash with DIY Diffuser.