Macro shot of the head of the Common Housefly.

Amongst the many comments I received on this picture, the one that I treasure most is from a fellow NGYP member, Carol Robinson, who said, “Thanks to this picture I am not thinking flies are ugly anymore. This is one of the most remarkable shots I have ever seen of an insect.” It’s one of the reasons why I have a passion for macrophotography. When I put a face to some of these insects, I then know  what I am looking at, and I appreciate these insects or bugs as some call them, even more.

A species of Mayfly seen next to my pond. This one has a pair of orange compound colored eyes that look like buckets, and at the base laterally, single golden compound eyes! Aditionally, a pair of small red eyes are seen. What a treat! The head to body-end measures about 4 mm.

This is the face of a different Mayfly. The Mayfly measures 4mm and the head is smaller than a pinhead. So far, I find that there are only two species of Mayflies around my pond at home. I am still looking out for different species.

Macro of the head of a female Trithemis Aurora. The bulbous eyes of a dragonfly wrap around its head gives it a 360 degree view of the world. They can see you when they’re flying towards you, and they can see you when they’re flying away. Dragonfly eyes can have four or five opsins, allowing them to perceive the normal colour spectrum, along with UV light and the plane of light polarization (the effect you get with polarized sunglasses.)

Macro of the head of Trithemis Aurora. Female specimen. The massive bulbous eyes of a dragonfly wrap around its head like an astronaut’s helmet, giving it a 360 degree view of the world.

Carpenter bees are large, sturdy, shiny, black-coloured bees, some species having yellow markings on their heads. Carpenter bees may be mistaken for bumblebees. Carpenter bees (the genus Xylocopa in the subfamily Xylocopinae) are distributed worldwide with some 500 species of these carpenter bees. Their common name derives from the behavior of nearly all species to build their nests in burrows in dead wood, bamboo, or structural timbers.

There was a dead baby grass-hopper on my driveway, and I spotted these garden black ants trying to carry away a piece if the grasshopper’s hind leg. I have not yet seen the eyes of a black ant, and was pleasantly surprised when one of the pictures I took showed these remarkable compound eye structure. And more, the ant head itself has bristles! What a discovery for me!

I was trying to get a close-up of the face of a damselfly, especially the eyes, to observe it’s structure which are the compound eyes found among the arthropods. This view prominently shows the three eyes, the nostrils, the hairy face and head, and antennae, besides the compound eyes. So tiny, yet so marvellously complex! Pseudagrion microcephalum. Hand held, close-up attachment with flash.

” For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
Romans 1:20- NIV.