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Garden pest


Garden pest
Photo Information
Copyright: Valerie Schnepp (valy67) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1409 W: 53 N: 1929] (5768)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-07-16
Categories: Insects
Camera: Canon 350D, Canon EF 18mm-55mm f/3.5 - f/5.6
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2006-07-16 16:57
Viewed: 1158
Points: 54
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
I found this larva of a Potato Beetle in my grand-parent's garden. They are very common this year, and it is almost impossible to get rid of them once they have settled onto a potato crop. They really do a lot of damage. But I like the shape and the color of the larva so I decided to take some photos before killing it - I really hate doing it but it is necessary.

To see an adult Potato Beetle, you can have a look at my workshop.

Potato Beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)

Class : Insects
Order : Coleoptera
Family : Chrysomelidae

The Potato Beetle, also known as the Colorado Beetle or Ten-striped Spearman, is an important pest of potato crops. It is approximately 10 mm (0.4 inches) long, with a bright yellow/orange body and bold brown stripes across the length of its elytra. The origin of the beetle is somewhat unclear, but it seems to be that Colorado and Mexico are a part of its native distribution in the south-western part of North-America.

The female beetle can lay up to 800 eggs at a time, and up to three times per year. The eggs are usually deposited on the leaves of potato plants and other related plants in the genus Solanum. After 4-15 days, they hatch into reddish-brown larvae with humped backs and two rows of dark brown spots on either side, which feed on the leaves - this is what you see on my photo. Larvae drop to the soil and burrow to a depth of several inches, where they emerge in the spring as adults after two weeks of pupation. They then return to their host plant to mate and feed.

The Colorado beetle is a serious crop pest of potatoes. Insecticides are often used unsuccessfully against Leptinotarsa because of the beetle's resistance to toxins and ability to rapidly develop immunity to them.

In 1877, the Colorado beetle reached Europe and proceeded to spread over much of the continent. During World War II, the Nazi regime in Germany used them for propaganda, claiming that the beetles had been dropped by the United States Army Air Forces. The Americans were also blamed by regime propaganda when after World War II, in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, almost half of all potato fields were infested by the beetle by 1950.
thor68, jmp, Silke, horia, jcoowanitwong, liquidsunshine, pablominto, dew77, ramthakur, cas_orla, Dando, firelord, SkyF, scottevers7, jeanpaul, eman68, eruyanik, AndyB, wallhalla15, jjcordier, aido, Alex99, liziafa, Alain_cdn has marked this note useful
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ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To SunToucher: Hi Niek !valy67 2 07-23 10:46
To eruyanik: Hi Ersin !valy67 1 07-18 01:52
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • thor68 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 730 W: 120 N: 1071] (4703)
  • [2006-07-16 17:31]

excellent macro-shot, valerie! :-)
never seen such a larva before - it´s look quite nice and interesting.
good composition and pov with great details and nice colors.
well seen & captured, thorsten.

  • Great 
  • jmp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1836 W: 94 N: 2341] (8407)
  • [2006-07-16 17:42]

Hola Valerie,
Gran foto de esta fea y perjudicial larva. Magnífica composición, buen fondo borroso y muy documentada nota, útil e interesante.
Un saludo, José M.

  • Great 
  • Silke Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 753 W: 108 N: 1730] (5406)
  • [2006-07-16 17:46]

UGLY BUG! But a good composition, excellent POV and DOF with a nicely blurred background. I like the colours -- but i STILL don't like the bug ;-)
Best regards
Silke

  • Great 
  • horia Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2171 W: 232 N: 4056] (13483)
  • [2006-07-16 17:56]

Superb macro, Valerie!
The detail is magnificent, the colors are lovely and the DOF just makes everything stand out even more. Very good work, indeed!
Bravo and TFS
Horia

Hello Valerie,
Excellent macro on this potato beetle larva. Good POV and composition. TFS
JC

Interesting post Valerie,
The details are nice, clear and sharp.
Good colours, lighting and exposure. DOF is spot on and the POV is good.
Well composed and nicely framed.
Thanks for posting, have a great week my friend.

Hi Valerie,
Beautiful composition of this creepy creature!
Macro job well done... Good point of view and superb details!
Greetings,
Pablo -

  • Great 
  • fons (26)
  • [2006-07-17 3:14]

félicitation!

  • Great 
  • red45 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2841 W: 75 N: 8090] (27431)
  • [2006-07-17 3:14]

Sorry, no time! Proper critique later!

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4964 W: 298 N: 4027] (13131)
  • [2006-07-17 3:51]

Hello Valerie,
Lovely close up.POV,colors,blurred BG,framing and visual impact are excellent.
TFS...:-)

Nice image of this colourful larva, Valerie.
I like the way you have composed the shot.
Great POV, DOF, colours and details.
TFS and take care.

  • Great 
  • Dando Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 641 W: 32 N: 791] (3080)
  • [2006-07-17 5:53]

Hi Valerie, excellent macro. Well composed within the frame with excellent details, lighting and colours. Very well done my friend and TFS.
Dean.

Hello Vallerie, excllent colors, Bg, POV DOF Perfect details, Great work, TFS Kyle

  • Great 
  • SkyF Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2390 W: 194 N: 1991] (8113)
  • [2006-07-17 7:57]

Hello Valerie,
very nice close up and an interesting post. I seen the beetles before, but never the larva.
Excellent POV and very well positioned.
TFS..Sky

Hi Valerie,
A very nice macro shot on this Patato Beetle larva. he isolation of the larva on the plant makes a great composition. Nice detail with just enough DOF. Backround looks great.
Scott

Pouacre, dirait-on pas une larve de doryphore ! Cela me rappelle le verger de mes grands-parents, où on leur faisait subir les pires tourments quand j'étais gamin. Très belle macro, très bien composée.

bonjour Valerie
Felicitation pour ce beau macro avec de belles couleurs et de jolis details.
Merci et au revoir...JP

Bonjour Valérie,
Vraiment originale et superbe, cette macro de larve de doryphore!
Bravo également pour tout le texte de la note!
N'ayant que peu de connaissances en anglais, je m'efforce à lire toutes ces informations fort intéressantes!
Amitiés,
Emmanuel

Hello Valérie!
This is a very different subject and a great shot. Wonderful colours the larva has and with that black points, it is beautiful indeed! This must be so tiny, so you're so successful with focusing, sharpness and quality of the picture. Great composition with your framing and the soft colours as usual for you. But the more i like is your honesty:-)i understand your killing this pest, it must be executed for farming, i think its in nature also.

btw, if i see him again, i will say to my friend what you wrote about him and i will ask to him if he write a letter to his friends in France, as for if they visit and be friendly to you ;-)
Cheers!
Ersin

  • Great 
  • AndyB Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1586 W: 32 N: 1350] (3980)
  • [2006-07-17 18:44]

Hello Valerie,
A very good capture of this colourful larva.
A good composition,nice detail and excellent DOF.
This is the first time I've seen one of these.
A great shot and an interesting note.

TFS

Great macro Valerie.
Colorfull with very good sharpness and very good details. Very good job. Well done. TFS.
Gr.
Heinz

Excellente macro de cette larve qui se détache parfaitement sur ce fond. Belles couleurs
Amicalement
JJ

  • Great 
  • aido Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1095 W: 169 N: 1218] (4046)
  • [2006-07-19 11:31]

Hi Valerie,
Nice shot, excellent detail and exposure. DOF is perfect and I like the colours and light in the BG, very nie. Interesting note too, it's a shame they have to be killed but I understand why. Your Grandparents have a very busy garden I think :-)
Regards,
Adrian

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3245 W: 154 N: 4948] (15933)
  • [2006-07-19 12:04]

Hello.
Superb macro, Valerie. I am especially impressed by composition and BG. Only two subjects and what a great effect. It's a really mastery. Bravo. But BG is inimitable. It's colours and blur are outstanding.
Alexei.

Hi Valerie,
Very good close-up.
Excellent sharp and details.
TFS Malgosia

  • Great 
  • GLEM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 524 W: 87 N: 695] (5747)
  • [2006-07-20 17:12]

je n'avais vu le parasite de la pomme de terre sous cet angle, c'est vraiment très réussi.


GAETAN

Hi Valerie,
Lets start with the beautiful part of this photo, and that is almost everything. Composition, colors and sharpness are outstanding. The DOF is OK, but I think with 1 or 2 stops up you would have the whole larva in focus and the leaf as well. The flashlight is a bit too harsh, and it would be best to use a diffuser such as a simple piece of white paper. And now back to how much I admire your skills, because I would screw up this kind of opportunity big time. So I am just looking at the skills but in the meantime envy your great eye and capturing the beauty.
TFS,
Niek

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