r/InsectPorn

Came back to my favourite spot for the first time this year — the reeds had been almost completely cut back over winter. Just a few small ones left.

I almost turned around. Kept the flash low to let the background breathe rather than kill it, and found this clinging to one of the last stems.

Ptychoptera contaminata — the Orange-marked Cranefly. The banded orange and black abdomen is aposematic colouration, a warning to predators. The iridescent blue-green thorax is something you'd walk straight past at normal speed.

OM System OM-1 | M.Zuiko 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO | M.Zuiko Digital 2x MC-20 | Godox V860iii | f/10 | ISO 200 | 1/100 | Handheld
Frederiksberg Have, Denmark

All photos are my own original content.

Early morning in Frederiksberg Have. This Black Garden Ant (Lasius niger) was working the joint where a new blade was pushing through the reed stem — the plant's own sap catching the flash and glowing white beneath its feet.

I deliberately didn't crop tight. The context of the stem junction and the surrounding green felt like part of the story.

Lasius niger is one of the most common insects in Europe, but up close it's easy to forget that. The glossy gaster, the alert posture, the compound eye.

OM System OM-1 | M.Zuiko 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO | M.Zuiko Digital 2x MC-20 | Godox V860iii | f/10 | ISO 200 | 1/100 | Handheld
Frederiksberg Have, Denmark

All photos are my own original content.

I took this shot of a beetle in Gaeta, Italy on my mother in law's farm. Pretty common in the spring. Any help in getting an ID is greatly appreciated!

Now that may not sound dull, but the math is. I took a walk around and at any moment I was surrounded by hundreds of mosquitoes, so I decided to estimate how many mosquitoes were present. I observed an estimated 20-30 mosquitoes at any given moment in any given one square foot column vertically. Using the smaller estimate, that’s 880,000 mosquitoes per acre, I have 80 acres of land, making me host to upwards of 50 million mosquitoes indeed.

I think it’s a type of Scarab beetle! I flipped him over after his photoshoot

would be a help if you support me on instagram : )

Shot this worker on a woodpile in Brodski Stupnik, Croatia. Two frames of the same individual — head-on first, then full profile showing the characteristic heart-shaped waist and gaster tilt.