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Culex pipiens - pupa 3, Heesch, Netherlands After my lucky 2.5:1 experiment found here:<br /> <figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96840/mosquito_larvae_and_pupae_lifecycle_-_extreme_macro_heesch_netherlands.html" title="Mosquito larvae and pupae lifecycle - extreme macro, Heesch, Netherlands"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/96840_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1661990410&Signature=2%2Bk5qUHK3fdR8kAzG2zuvItolJo%3D" width="200" height="134" alt="Mosquito larvae and pupae lifecycle - extreme macro, Heesch, Netherlands Here&#039;s a prime example of a pretty bad idea achieving a goal I didn&#039;t even know I had. Or let&#039;s just call it luck.<br /> <br /> In another post, Christine encouraged me to look for mosquito eggs/larvae in still waters. So I took the lazy approach, one of my two small ponds in the garden is in the shade and wind-free, and I actually found some there. <br /> <br /> I just poured some of them into a glass. That was the easy part. Next, extreme macro poses a huge challenge here since the water moves, subjects move, which again causes the water to move. Surely the scene isn&#039;t static enough to do a deep stack, which typically takes at least 5 minutes to run and require the subject to not even move by 1 mm, or even 0.1mm.<br /> <br /> Out of desperation to at least capture something, I went for it anyway, and the outcome I think is pretty hilarious. To describe what&#039;s going on:<br /> <br /> - There&#039;s 3 larvae in the scene. One is in the bottom half of the image swimming around, the stack process creating multiple exposures of its movement.<br /> <br /> - The other 2 larvae are attached to the water surface. They use siphon tubes to breath, hanging upside down. You can see the multiple exposures hinting at their movement when attached.<br /> <br /> - There&#039;s 1.5 pupae in the scene, the big creature hanging upside down. In this phase it doesn&#039;t feed yet it&#039;s not immobile. When disturbing the water, it instantly sinks to the bottom. And back up again when it&#039;s safe.<br /> <br /> - In the top right is a single water flea interacting with a mosquito larva.<br /> <br /> This entire scene is just about 1cm wide, a tiny section of a glass. As a casual observation, in the few hours I was busy with this glass, 3 pupae transformed into adults and flew away. <br /> <br /> More to come later :) Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro,The Netherlands" /></a></figure><br /> ...I figured to keep pushing my luck and try a bigger magnification (4x) as well as stronger direct lighting. With a relatively static pupa taking up more of the image, there&#039;s less space for its chaotic surroundings. Due to movement in the water itself, the first 2 attempts failed, as the pupa also moved. This is the 3rd try, which I find acceptably sharp given difficult conditions. <br /> <br /> All 3 images are derived from the same single image, just different rotations, crop and post processing in an attempt to show detail in different ways. <br /> <br /> <figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96950/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_heesch_netherlands.html" title="Culex pipiens - pupa, Heesch, Netherlands"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/96950_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1661990410&Signature=a0%2BEB36muDVg7T0ujngZ%2BRhzApA%3D" width="200" height="134" alt="Culex pipiens - pupa, Heesch, Netherlands After my lucky 2.5:1 experiment found here:<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96840/mosquito_larvae_and_pupae_lifecycle_-_extreme_macro_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> ...I figured to keep pushing my luck and try a bigger magnification (4x) as well as stronger direct lighting. With a relatively static pupa taking up more of the image, there&#039;s less space for its chaotic surroundings. Due to movement in the water itself, the first 2 attempts failed, as the pupa also moved. This is the 3rd try, which I find acceptably sharp given difficult conditions. <br /> <br /> All 3 images are derived from the same single image, just different rotations, crop and post processing in an attempt to show detail in different ways. <br /> <br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96947/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_2_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96948/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_3_heesch_netherlands.html Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro,WeMacro" /></a></figure><br /> <figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96947/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_2_heesch_netherlands.html" title="Culex pipiens - pupa 2, Heesch, Netherlands"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/96947_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1661990410&Signature=N%2F5hApK3w6RnUkLuQigNpnGDcKk%3D" width="200" height="200" alt="Culex pipiens - pupa 2, Heesch, Netherlands After my lucky 2.5:1 experiment found here:<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96840/mosquito_larvae_and_pupae_lifecycle_-_extreme_macro_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> ...I figured to keep pushing my luck and try a bigger magnification (4x) as well as stronger direct lighting. With a relatively static pupa taking up more of the image, there&#039;s less space for its chaotic surroundings. Due to movement in the water itself, the first 2 attempts failed, as the pupa also moved. This is the 3rd try, which I find acceptably sharp given difficult conditions. <br /> <br /> All 3 images are derived from the same single image, just different rotations, crop and post processing in an attempt to show detail in different ways. <br /> <br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96950/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96948/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_3_heesch_netherlands.html Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro" /></a></figure> Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro,Extreme Macro Portraits,WeMacro Click/tap to enlarge

Culex pipiens - pupa 3, Heesch, Netherlands

After my lucky 2.5:1 experiment found here:

Mosquito larvae and pupae lifecycle - extreme macro, Heesch, Netherlands Here's a prime example of a pretty bad idea achieving a goal I didn't even know I had. Or let's just call it luck.<br /> <br /> In another post, Christine encouraged me to look for mosquito eggs/larvae in still waters. So I took the lazy approach, one of my two small ponds in the garden is in the shade and wind-free, and I actually found some there. <br /> <br /> I just poured some of them into a glass. That was the easy part. Next, extreme macro poses a huge challenge here since the water moves, subjects move, which again causes the water to move. Surely the scene isn't static enough to do a deep stack, which typically takes at least 5 minutes to run and require the subject to not even move by 1 mm, or even 0.1mm.<br /> <br /> Out of desperation to at least capture something, I went for it anyway, and the outcome I think is pretty hilarious. To describe what's going on:<br /> <br /> - There's 3 larvae in the scene. One is in the bottom half of the image swimming around, the stack process creating multiple exposures of its movement.<br /> <br /> - The other 2 larvae are attached to the water surface. They use siphon tubes to breath, hanging upside down. You can see the multiple exposures hinting at their movement when attached.<br /> <br /> - There's 1.5 pupae in the scene, the big creature hanging upside down. In this phase it doesn't feed yet it's not immobile. When disturbing the water, it instantly sinks to the bottom. And back up again when it's safe.<br /> <br /> - In the top right is a single water flea interacting with a mosquito larva.<br /> <br /> This entire scene is just about 1cm wide, a tiny section of a glass. As a casual observation, in the few hours I was busy with this glass, 3 pupae transformed into adults and flew away. <br /> <br /> More to come later :) Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro,The Netherlands

...I figured to keep pushing my luck and try a bigger magnification (4x) as well as stronger direct lighting. With a relatively static pupa taking up more of the image, there's less space for its chaotic surroundings. Due to movement in the water itself, the first 2 attempts failed, as the pupa also moved. This is the 3rd try, which I find acceptably sharp given difficult conditions.

All 3 images are derived from the same single image, just different rotations, crop and post processing in an attempt to show detail in different ways.

Culex pipiens - pupa, Heesch, Netherlands After my lucky 2.5:1 experiment found here:<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96840/mosquito_larvae_and_pupae_lifecycle_-_extreme_macro_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> ...I figured to keep pushing my luck and try a bigger magnification (4x) as well as stronger direct lighting. With a relatively static pupa taking up more of the image, there's less space for its chaotic surroundings. Due to movement in the water itself, the first 2 attempts failed, as the pupa also moved. This is the 3rd try, which I find acceptably sharp given difficult conditions. <br /> <br /> All 3 images are derived from the same single image, just different rotations, crop and post processing in an attempt to show detail in different ways. <br /> <br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96947/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_2_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96948/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_3_heesch_netherlands.html Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro,WeMacro

Culex pipiens - pupa 2, Heesch, Netherlands After my lucky 2.5:1 experiment found here:<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96840/mosquito_larvae_and_pupae_lifecycle_-_extreme_macro_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> ...I figured to keep pushing my luck and try a bigger magnification (4x) as well as stronger direct lighting. With a relatively static pupa taking up more of the image, there's less space for its chaotic surroundings. Due to movement in the water itself, the first 2 attempts failed, as the pupa also moved. This is the 3rd try, which I find acceptably sharp given difficult conditions. <br /> <br /> All 3 images are derived from the same single image, just different rotations, crop and post processing in an attempt to show detail in different ways. <br /> <br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96950/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96948/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_3_heesch_netherlands.html Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro

    comments (5)

  1. View Patomarazul's profile
    Patomarazul
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    Amazing! Posted 2 years ago
    1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
      Ferdy Christant
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      Thank you, Marta, hope you can still sleep :) Posted 2 years ago
      1. View Patomarazul's profile
        Patomarazul
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        I was able to sleep after telling myself that these white filaments are organs in development and not parasitic worms :-D Posted 2 years ago
        1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
          Ferdy Christant
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          hehe, sometimes it helps! Posted 2 years ago
  3. View Flavio's profile
    Flavio
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    Awesome!! :-O Posted 10 months ago

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The Common House Mosquito

''Culex pipiens'' is a species of blood-feeding mosquito of the family Culicidae. It is a vector of some diseases, such as Japanese encephalitis, meningitis, and urticaria. In the US and parts of Europe, it can spread West Nile virus, and in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, it has been demonstrated to be a vector of Usutu virus.

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Similar species: True Flies
Species identified by Ferdy Christant
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By Ferdy Christant

All rights reserved
Uploaded Jun 30, 2020. Captured Jun 16, 2020 22:23.
country flag of Netherlands Explore Netherlands 8,132 2,250 0
  • NIKON D850
  • f/1.2
  • 1/200s
  • ISO64
  • 50mm