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Scutigera — Phantom Midge Pupa
Published: 2010-06-15 23:11:54 +0000 UTC; Views: 4693; Favourites: 70; Downloads: 215
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Description
This is, as the title states, the pupal stage of a phantom midge. Their larvae and pupae are aquatic; both normally hang motionless in the water but can, like larval mosquitoes, flex their bodies to spring forward in the blink of an eye. This pupa would flip out in that manner nearly every time I snapped a picture. The flash must have startled it.This animal was less than a centimeter long, so I used a high-magnification macro lens for the photo.
Personally, I think its head makes it look a bit like an angry bunny. The rabbit-like "ears" in this case are actually air-filled breathing tubes.
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Comments: 39
I came across this on a Google Image search, and I'm already watching you. What are the odds?
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Actually, I've seen my own dA submissions in google image searches as well. The odds seem quite high when one draws/photographs obscure animals, simply due to the utter dearth of competing media showcasing those organisms.
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Yeah .___. I try to live in denial.
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Awww he looks like a mini owl-snake thing.
I wish I could breath like that, looks like fun. I could go snorkling without equipment.
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No, it's cool. I take it this was from a film camera?
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Whoops, sorry bout that, I didn't link this to the conversation we were having.
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I've made that mistake with replying too.
The photo was actually taken with a recent digital camera; the lens was mounted on it somehow. Today I looked at the lens to see what it was, and found this engraved on it: Wollensak 1 inch f/1.9 (w) Cine Raptar. I'm not sure how helpful that is, but it was the only identifying label I could see.
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Well thank you for the information!
Once fine lens, that's for sure.
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You're welcome. I googled the label and found a few results for that type of lens... My initial impression is that this lens is a collectible antique that is highly valuable in mint condition.
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My thoughts exactly!
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coool O__O
I've never seen something like this before D:
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Have you looked at samples of freshwater invertebrates before? I realize people who haven't taken a lot of biology classes might not have collected aquatic invertebrates before. Aquatic fly larvae tend to be very common and are easily collected by the dozen with a dipping net. To be fair, though, without higher magnification, these larvae and pupae look like rather uninteresting transparent worm things. I had no idea phantom midge larvae and pupae looked so interesting until I started photographing them up close.
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The pupae are about a centimeter long. The larvae might be closer to 1.5 centimeters.
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Aww! It's adorable! I want one!
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Why settle for one, when you could easily catch dozens and keep them in the same aquarium? They were quite abundant in the ponds where my photography class gathered aquatic invertebrates to photograph.
Of course, the fact that they are aquatic as larvae and terrestrial/flying as adults could make them tricky to keep in captivity, as you'd need both water and branches or something for them to climb and perch on, and space for them to fly.
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Nematoceran pupae remind me of creepy shrimp.
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I suppose they do bear some resemblance to small crustaceans. In particular, the pupa's abdomen looks like a shrimp's tail.
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Excellent capture, what was the magnification ratio on this shot?
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Thanks. I think the lens I used had 7x magnification.
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Now that's just fucking cute :-D!
This is a great reference picture, those are otherwise too tiny to see so taking a picture of them is the only choise, and you need a good photographer and a camera.
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A good reference picture? I'm flattered. I'm lucky that this individual posed long enough for me to get this shot with a high-magnification lens.
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It does indeed look like an angry bunny.
If their adult stages weren't so darn annoying, I'd really like these guys.
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Annoying? Really? To me, at least, adult phantom midges can't be annoying because they are extremely elusive. I see only one or two every four years or so, and to this day I have never been able to catch or touch one. In fact, so frustrating is their scarcity and inclination to fly higher than I can reach, that I'm determined to handle one somehow, some day. It is a strange and arbitrary goal, but we want the things we cannot have.
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Oh! derp. I'm thinking of something else, then. Sorry.
Best of luck catching one!
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Crane flies, maybe? They're harmless, but quite common, and quite fragile and clumsy.
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Nah, those are way too big. I was thinking of the guys who form tall columns that my friend and I always bumble through while out walking.
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Ah, midge mating swarms...
Actually, I checked and it seems that I'm the one who was mistaken. The elusive flies I was thinking of are phantom crane flies, and I somehow thought that phantom midge was another common name for them. I know that phantom crane flies aren't midges, but common names are often misleading or inaccurate. Phantom midges are indeed small midges that aren't particularly rare or remarkable in appearance.
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Pfleh. There's so many of them, augh.
Oh! We're just a big pile of confusion, then, haha. Glad you figured out what's what. @.@
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One of my favorite insects for its larval stage. I wish they were gigantic
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I wish there was a gigantic version of every teensy invertebrate. Horseshoe crab-sized triops, panther-sized rove beetles, pig-sized rotifers, python-sized flatworms, elephant-sized tardigrades...
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Elephant-sized tardigrades: the biggest, chubbiest, cutest thing EVER.
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The lens is one I borrowed from my instructor. He says it's a lens that was probably made in the 1940s, and that he traded for it at a photographer convention or some such gathering. The lens has 7x magnification, but I don't recall its brand or model offhand. I could check.
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