[Mark Nadler]

Still Life & Macro

on: September 18, 2020 at 8:42 pm

The Helmeted Squash Bug is considered a pest of plants in the squash family, like pumpkins, gourds and zucchini. Adults feed on plant juices to the point of destroying the plant rendering it inedible for human consumption. The small red (newly hatched) or black-and-tan nymphs have a different body shape.

Comments welcomed.

• This topic was modified 3 years ago by Mark Nadler.

[John Hollenberg Participant Posts: 63]

Re: Helmeted Squash Bug

Reply #1 on: September 19, 2020 at 12:52 pm

I like this one very much.  Quite different from other photos of insects, spiders, etc. that I have seen.  The out of focus green and yellow background add some nice color to the brown bug with the red eyes.

[Mark Nadler Participant Posts: 21]

Re: Helmeted Squash Bug

Reply #2 on: September 19, 2020 at 7:33 pm

Hi, John.  I’m using a 200 mm macro lens and its depth of field is very shallow.  This fellow’s magic is in its eyes.

mark

[Mike Nelson Pedde Participant Posts: 641]

Re: Helmeted Squash Bug

Reply #3 on: September 20, 2020 at 6:46 pm

Nicely done. And definitely a bug (as opposed to an ‘insect’).

Mike.

_____
Mike Nelson Pedde
Victoria, BC
https://www.wolfnowl.com/

[Mark Nadler Participant Posts: 21]

Re: Helmeted Squash Bug

Reply #4 on: September 21, 2020 at 9:44 am

Mike thanks for looking.  Until recently I did not realize that there is a difference between bugs and insects.  I am still confused about this “bug.”  I read that it is a beetle and I thought that beetles were insects.

mark

[Mike Nelson Pedde]

Re: Helmeted Squash Bug

Reply #5 on: September 26, 2020 at 9:08 pm

Hi Mark: Biologically speaking, all plants, animals, etc. are classified using a series of cascading steps:

Kingdom
Phyllum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
(sub-species, variants, etc.)

So we’re at K: Animalia, P: Invertebrata (no backbone), C: Insecta (all insects), O: Hemiptera (bugs), and so on. Beetles are in the order Coleoptera. All bugs have long snouts with sucking mouthparts. Some are predatory and some are vegetarian. You can see the full classification for this little one here: https://bugguide.net/node/view/7959

Mike.

_____
Mike Nelson Pedde
Victoria, BC
https://www.wolfnowl.com/

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by Mike Nelson Pedde.

[Mark Nadler Participant Posts: 21]

Re: Helmeted Squash Bug

Reply #6 on: September 26, 2020 at 9:19 pm

Mike, thanks for the further insight into bugs and insects.  I began taking pictures of bugs and insects about a year ago and I have enjoyed learning about them.  I am trying to create decorative art images of them.  Again, thanks for looking and commenting.

mark

 

[Daniel Koretz Participant Posts: 87]

Re: Helmeted Squash Bug

Reply #7 on: May 20, 2021 at 3:51 pm

In case Mike’s post didn’t make this clear: all bugs are insects, but most insects aren’t “true bugs”. In common speech, however, I’ve never heard anyone make the distinction.

Re depth of field: I think what you are gaining with a longer focal length is greater background blur, which is independent of depth of field. While things get a little weird at macro distances, as a general rule, focal length doesn’t alter depth of field (e.g., see https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm). So unless there is something exceptional going on at macro distances, you would have had a similar DOF if you had used a shorter macro lens and had gotten close enough to have the same framing. However, what does differ as a function of focal length is background blur–that is, how blurred the out of focus areas are. This is a function of angle of view: with a narrower angle of view, a longer focal length spreads a smaller amount of background over the width of the field.

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