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In The Limelight
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Lime Hawkmoth (Mimas tiliae). This moth is found throughout Europe and eastwards to Japan. In the British Isles it is fairly common in southern England, scarce in Wales but absent from Scotland and Ireland. As its name suggests its preferred foodplant is lime - the Tilia genus as opposed to the citrus fruit! They will also feed on birch, oak, elm and alder.
Apologies in advance for the nasty brickwork background, but in the UK it is in urban areas you are most likely to encounter this species. Before humans began their deforestation of Britain, it was lime rather than oak that dominated the forests covering this country. These days limes are seldom found outside of parkland areas. This specimen was on the wall of the building I work at in central Bournemouth. My manager, knowing I like natural history, told me he'd seen an impressive looking moth outside. I grabbed my camera at lunchtime and thankfully it was still there. I am pretty sure the moth is female as the antennae were narrow, and the tail was being held out. Female moths often adopt this posture to better release pheromones which attract the males (they have thicker antennae which help them detect the source of the pheromones).
I took the shot using a Canon 100mm macro lens with a MR-14 EX Macro Ring Lite - the moth had found a very shady wall near our underground car park and there was not enough natural light available for a good shot. It was a pity she was at head height and the wings were at quite an angle, so I couldn't get high enough to achieve the focal plane I was after. Still quite pleased with the result as it's only the third time I've used the ring lite.
Kind Regards
Vinny www.vincentblood.com |
nglen, maurydv, greghume has marked this note useful
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- nglen
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(21102) - [2008-06-12 12:19]
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Hi Vinny. By the sound of the light in the car park you have done well. Good to have the camera at the ready. This still shows good detail and the markings. Well done TFS.
Nick..
Hello Vinny,
Nice shot of this interesting species. It's a pitty for the background... maybe you can try a PP and put a black background in place of it. Best regards,
Catherine
Bellissima macro di questa falena dai colori mimetici, costretta ad utilizzarli non sulle piante ma sui manufatti urbani, ottimi POV e taglio compositivo, molto buona la nitidezza, molto belli i colori. Grazie e complimenti. Ciao Maurizio
Bonjour Vinny
Bienvenu sur le site de TN
Très belle présentation et belle prise en macro avec ce joli papillon ,les couleurs et la nettetée sont très bonnes, belle composition .
Au revoir et félicitation ....JP
Hi Vinny,
I keep my camera handy most of the time as well. The ring light did a good job on exposure, but I agree that the focal plane is a bit off. Well done nevertheless. Interesting note as well.
Regards,
Greg
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