Received a nice little Russian microscope objective today from Haworthiaworld on eBay – a Lomo 8x 0.20 finite (I assume 160/-). I wasn’t expecting much…
I got an unexpected “gift” the other day of a Melles Griot 16x/0.32 160/0.17 microscope objective lens. I had ordered the 10x version (which is…
Have just come back from a lovely, relaxing trip to my parent’s for Christmas … lots of chatting, eating and (a little) drinking, all in…
One of the standard ways to test a macro photography set-up is to photograph a butterfly’s wing and then show the image as a crop…
Here are a few stacks of various fly genitalia – taken at 4x magnification using the Schneider Componon 35mm f4 lens.
Today I went through some of the specimens in my World collection that had been labelled under the siphonine genera (Actia, Borgmeiermyia, Ceromya, Pseudosiphona etc.).…
Here is a stalk-eyed fly from Western Malaysia, taken at about 3x magnification. The equipment was Canon 1000D + Schneider Componon 35mm f4 lens reversed…
It’s not often that you get this close to the very rare and tiny Microsoma exiguum (3mm), Cinochira atra (2mm) & Catharosia pygmaea (4-5mm). I…
Here are a few Pelecotheca (Cryptocladocera) sp. stacks. The technique involves taking about 30 photos, each at a different focal point in the specimen and…
Last Friday I had the pleasure of helping out at the Natural History Museum’s yearly “Science Uncovered” event. For one evening the museum opens its…
Just a few photos from a quick “recon” visit to Swyncombe Down with Rod d’Ayala, ahead of our guided walk for the Reading & District…
Eggardon Hill is an ancient hill-fort, owned by the National Trust, south of Powerstock Common on the back-road from Beaminster to Bridport. Besides having the…
The day started well when I saw a lovely Gold-ringed Dragonfly in the garden in Beaminster. They are a very rare species away from their…
Tony’s meadow in Cholsey has been a survey site for the Hornet Robberfly (Asilus crabroniformis) because it is the center of a thriving population and…
Today I received a small parcel of Diptera from Ulf in Paraguay – many thanks Ulf! 🙂  In the mix were lots of different families…
In this post I showed a species of Trichophora determined by Monty Wood. During a visit to the BMNH I discovered that there were no…
In this post I showed a Jurinia sp. from Bolivia, determined by Monty Wood. During a visit to the BMNH I discovered a species called…
Last week I spent a happy afternoon at the BMNH, courtesy of Erica & Nigel in the Diptera department. I decided to concentrate on a…
Today was an absolutely glorious 28C and sunny (without a gale-force wind!) so I headed out for Moor Copse to see what I could find.…