siwanowicz

Hi Bruce. I made it in Blender - a relatively low polygon mesh; I only needed to make half of the face :) To generate the repeating pattern I simply dropped a triangular mirror box into the scene.

Hermit crabs of Biak Island (Western Papua)

Oleander Hawk Moth.

 

View larger version for those extra pixels!

yes, it is a compilation of 2 photos - I have only one Brachypelma smithi spider.

 

It is a sub-imago male, the legs span is around 12 cm.

My childhood dream came true; I had to go all the way to the very

heart of Irian Jaya to witness the stag beetles fight.

 

Irian Jaya, near Waniok village, some 2000 m.o.s.l.

 

Please view the LARGER version!

Thanks for the comment!

 

There are NO mantises in my area - I have to buy them off from local breeders, through internet sites where they advertise their stocks. Some mantids where found in Grece or France, but most are exotic species and came from captive breeding. Those guys above on the other hand can be found under each and every old log in local woods.

 

cheers!

Igor

Those butterflies spend nights in clusters, and you can easily find

groups of 10+ butterflies.

 

Please view LARGER verison!

A mountain chameleon puppies - just 2.5 cm long (tail included).

 

Please hit LARGER!

This one was inspired by MC Escher's masterpiece "Krempeltierchen".

 

Hit "LARGER" tab!

A pair of Medioconstricta mantises (no common name yet; the species

was discovered just a few years ago).

 

Please view the LARGER version!

This EXTREMELY bad pun (some of you may find appropriate in the

circumstances) is of course a "Master and Commander" reference (I can

really sympathize with the Doctor character, by the way - I would get

totally pissed if I had to suddenly leave some biodiversity paradise I

just started to explore).

Liparus is one of the largest European weevils, while Pissodes falls

in the "leser weevils" (d'oh!) category...

 

No weevils were hurt during this session!

View large. I mean LARGE.

Armadlillidium vulgare, a common pill woodlouse (aka rolly polly,

rolie polie, potato bug etc). It's a crustacean adapted to living on

the ground (but technically still a shrimp ;)).

 

View them LARGE please!

A pair of damselfiels sitting on Calamus or Common Sweet Flag (Acorus

calamus). LARGE view please!

There is the season for Black-veined White (Aporia crataegi) in my

area. I like the gothic elegance of those butterflies; pure form - no

eye-catching flashy colours! View them LARGE please!

Red-Eyed Tree Frog, striding gracefully.

Devil's Flower Mantis (Idolomantis diabolica), a male showing off in a

threatening display.

Ain't this one just adorable? I melt under the stare of those blue

compound eyes! And check out these rosy... cheek... thingys...

Io moths are great models! As bugs go, anyway.

I found Io moths (Automeris Io) to be very cooperative models. Rubber

bulb type blower was used to provoke the threatening response - rapid

display of the eye spots on moths' hind wings. The photo session was

performed in my home "studio" (big word for the arrangement I use,

really), and the models' patience allowed me to test several

background/support combinations.

Treefrogs are natural born models...

...

Looper aka Inch Worm vel Twig Caterpillar.

The female P. wahlbergii mantis once again. The use of this flower

for the background as well as as a support of my model is

experimental. The common name of the mantis is spiny flower mantis,

after all. So, what do you think of the result? (my friend just told

me that the flower "looks somewhat obscene". Some people...)

...

I just couldn�t separate the couple: a male spiny flower mantis has

more vivid colors and of course slimmer abdomen than the female.