Friday 24 February 2017

The Dance of Love

Sminthurides malmgreni


Mr Sminthurides malmgreni (on the left) is 0.3mm long. Mrs Sminthurides malmgreni (on the right) is 0.5mm long. They are making love on water. Normally I wouldn't post a picture as crap as this but there's a problem. I can't actually see the males with my naked eye. I can just about make out the females but the only things I can see clearly are the couples in flagrante delicto. At that size, I can mange to scoop them up with a spoon and deposit them on a brimming vessel so that I can focus on them with the MP-E 65mm. It doesn't put them off, they just carry on doing what springtails do in the springtime...


Sminthurides malmgreni.
Sony ILCE-6000
Canon MP-E 65mm F2.8 G SSM
f8 1/200 ISO 2500