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Owlfly -II


Owlfly -II
Photo Information
Copyright: kv vral (vral) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 64 W: 1 N: 218] (1049)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-10-26
Categories: Insects
Camera: Canon 40D DSLR, Sigma 70-300mm, 4-5.6, APO DG Macro
Exposure: f/13.0, 1/250 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2008-11-14 1:48
Viewed: 663
Points: 14
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Hello Friends,

This day last year I joined Treknature and it was an awesome journey of learning and knowing people from around the globe. Every contributions here were of a great help to learn and understand nature’s bounty and its beauty. Thanking all TN friends for their contribution and those critiqued my share. Apart from learning about nature, TN improved my skills of nature photography. I’m happy to be part of TN fraternity. Wish I could present worthy share and critique as frequent as possible in the coming years.

Thanks to one and all.


Today, presenting another Owlfly, for which I don’t know the exact ID.

Please see the WS for another POV.

Owlflies are dragonfly-like insects with large bulging eyes and long knobbed antennae. They are not true flies, but rather neuropterans in the family Ascalaphidae, and as such are not closely related to the true flies at all.

Adult owlflies are aerial predators feeding on other insects. When disturbed, some owlflies will release a strong, musk-like, chemical to deter an enemy. Adults of many New World species are most active at sunset and dawn and can often be collected around lights. During the day, such adults rest on stems and twigs with the body, legs, and antennae pressed to the stem. The abdomen in a few species is held up, projecting into the air, to look like a broken twig. Many Old World species, however, are most active during the day, and are brightly colored - many even hold their wings spread at rest like dragonflies; perhaps this is a form of mimicry to benefit from the fact that dragonflies are aggressive predators which smaller predatory insects (for which the average neuropteran would be prey) would better avoid. Most owlflies average about 2 inches in length. Adult Ululodes have large divided eyes, which is where the common name "Owlfly" came from, in addition to their crepuscular habits. Owlflies are worldwide in distribution, though in North America they are primarily southerly.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Infraclass: Neoptera
Superorder: Endopterygota or Neuropterida
Order: Neuroptera
Suborder: Myrmeleontiformia
Superfamily: Myrmeleontoidea
Family: Ascalaphidae

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owlfly

This hand held image was converted from RAW to JPEG, slightly sharpened, cropped and resized.

Thanks for stopping by
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Critiques [Translate]

So Beautiful.
crisp clear. Brillliant colors

I'm puzzled by the star in the eye. Never seen such thing before on any insect.

TFS
JM

KV, I must first of all congratulate you on completing one year on TN. Secondly, I must congratulate you for capturing this amazingly beautiful shot of an Owlfly. I know you have cropped off some limbs for the sake of greater focus on the major limbs so that it has turned out to be a wonderful portrait.
The colours and details too are super in this image.
Wish you another successful and satisfying year on TN.
Ram

Merhaba Vral,harika harika bir makro,detaylar şahane,ellerine sağlık :)

Hi KV,
Congrats!
Very nice image of this owl fly, wish you could have shown the full fly with wings and antennae, to justify the beauty of this one. No doubt, this is very good graphic representation. tfs.
nagraj.v

Hi Kv, excellent macro shot, very good details and composition, godd lighting as well. Interesting species.
cheers
Adrian

Hello Vral,

Excellent close-up of this owl-fly. Great sharpness. Wonderful light and colours. I would have like to see the picture of the entire owl-fly in the WS.
Congratulations for your 1st year in TN. I hope there will other beautiful pictures of these unknown (at least on internet) and very nice insects, thanks a lot for your contribution.
Cheers,
Mariki

Hi Vral,

Congrats!! having completed one year at TN with your lovely images we all shared, this one is no expection. Lovely macro of the fly.Looking forward for seeing more in future.TFS.

excellent capture of this Owlfly,not easy to see on T.N. with perfect focus and vivid details..compliments KV

greetings sERGIO

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