It’s cold enough in North Carolina that there have been very few insects out and about. So, I’ve set up a little aquatic insect photo studio in my guest room so that I still have something to photograph. I’m going to share several aquatic insects with you over the next few weeks, but here’s a little preview:
Disintegrated diving beetle, Agabus disintegratus
That’s the belly of a really spectacular beetle, the disintegrated diving beetle, Agabus disintegratus. I’ll show you the other side soon, but I kinda love the undersides of predaceous diving beetles. You can see all the cool adaptations they’ve got going on their legs (you can just barely make out the suction cups on his forelegs) and you can admire the amazing structure of beetles. Plus, in this image, you can also see the air bubble this beetle uses to breathe. This particular beetle is super skittish and buries itself in the rocks at the bottom of my photo tank, so he’s been hard photograph. I was happy he sat still long enough for me to get this shot of him! An instant later, he was back under the rocks.
More cool aquatic insects are coming soon!
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The Dragonfly Woman 
FABULOUS shot!!!
Thanks! So glad you like it!
wonderful! I also followed the lead to your post on suction cups, which was especially fascinating. By email, I am sending you an article about Blepharicia zionensis which I think you may find amusing. I was unable to find larvae or pupae, because the area was closed at that time due to high water. I would be interested in knowing more about your setup for photographing aquatics– something I intend to do next summer.
Keep up the good work!
Ken
Glad you liked the aquatic insects that suck post! I really had fun writing that one, though I cringe just a little to look at those photos now… I have improved quite a bit since then! As for my aquatics setup, the shots from that post were all taken using dead specimens in a petri dish, top down. The live insects I photograph now are done in aquaria, shooting through the sides. I wrote a post about it a while back: https://thedragonflywoman.com/2013/04/22/aquatic-insect-photography/. The photo in this post, however, modified that technique a bit in that I’m using a bigger aquarium with thinner glass now, with a piece of glass placed inside to limit the movement of the insects and force them to stay near the front of the tank. I also did a post about the man who I learned my technique from, Steve Maxson, and he sent me a photo of his setup. You can find that here: https://thedragonflywoman.com/2013/04/25/steve-maxsons-photos/. I LOVE shooting aquatics, so I hope you enjoy it too!
Looking good! I would like to take my setup out but am kind of swamped right now.
Thanks! Here’s hoping that you get to use your setup soon!