Dociostaurus maroccanus

Written by Webmaster Thursday, 06 November 2008 21:19

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"When the mantis hunts the locust, he forgets the shrike that's hunting him. "  Chinese proverb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dociostaurus maroccanus (Moroccan locust) - Gregarious phase

We were on our way to Mount Ainos (Kefallonia) and stopped to take some photos of the villages below us. It was a hot summer day; there were very few bushes around. On the way back to the car I noticed this locust which had located some green leaves and was there in search of a meal. I was behind the animal and took some shots from the back, hoping to get the markings on its back. The locust stayed put so I took my chances, gone as near the ground as possible and got some shots of its face too. I set the aperture at f11 to get some depth of field without compromising the sharpness; the whole body of the insect was way too 'long' for the Tamron to handle. 

Photos by Marina Parha
 
Shooting Data:

Camera: Nikon D70

1. Lens: Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/320 sec - f/11, Aperture priority
Flash: SB-600
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS3, levels adjusted, sharpening added and resized. 

2. Lens: Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/250 sec - f/11, Manual mode
Flash: SB-600
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS3, levels adjusted, sharpening added and resized.

3. Lens: Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shutter speed - aperture: 1/400 sec - f/11, Manual mode
Flash: SB-600
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS3, levels adjusted, sharpening added and resized. 


 

Dociostaurus maroccanus II - Solitary phase

One of the nice things in nature photography is that you learn a lot of things. You learn to respect nature and develop a better understanding of how things work out there. You even begin to like animals which previously seemed appalling – to say the least. However, the most exciting part of it is hide-and-seek. They hide and you seek them. Whenever you find one of them, perfectly blending with the environment you realize that they were built to live there and you are merely an intruder to their world. This small locust was spotted by chance. Perhaps it was a sudden move it made while I was crawling to get a close up photo of the eye of a turtle which was close to it. I decided to leave the turtle and focus my camera on this locust and show how this little animal has raised camouflage to an art.

Photos by George J. Reclos
 
Shooting Data:

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Tamron SP AF 180mm f/3.5 Di Macro 1:1
Sensitivity: ISO200
Shutter speed: 1/640 at f/11, manual mode
Flash: SB-800 in i-TTL/FP (high speed synchronization) mode
Image: JPEG edited in Photoshop CS, levels adjusted, sharpening added and resized.

 

 

These photographs are the property of MCH Portal and cannot be reproduced without the written permission of the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Our thanks to Jean-Jacques Peres for identifying this animal.

 

 

 

 

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