Wee Crud Monster

[Kris_Smith (Kristen M Smith)]

Image(s)

Image Description

I noticed this little bit of crud moving against the wind on the deck railing so investigated. Never saw anything like it. IRL the whole little bit of stuff is 1/4 inch or less. Gardeners use lacewing nymphs as pest control so they can be beneficial. They gather and stick debris to themselves as camouflage. This is a series of photos of the bug picking up and moving what looks like a tiny seed onto its back with the rest of its crud.

Feedback Requests

It isn’t a web or a dam, but the insect does build these as to Caddis fly nymphs, so I hope it counts.

Pertinent Technical Details

Handheld, but with my hand directly on the railing for support.

Lr for all processing - mainly to get things sharp and smooth out luminosity. Texture and sharpening.

[kathrin (Kathrin Middelhoff)]

What an interesting behavior: carrying the hiding place around with them.

Fascinating documentary, Kris.

[Chris_Baird]

Absolutely fascinating. I’ve never seen anything like this. Few people would have even noticed. Kudos to you for noticing and capturing it. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Kris_Smith (Kristen M Smith)]

Thanks @Chris_Baird & @kathrin - so glad you appreciate the tiny and the strange. This was definitely both. It won’t win a beauty contest, but I like the fact that I noticed it and had the luck to catch it adding to its cruddy camouflage.

[Mark_Seaver]

Kris, definitely a photo sequence showing the architect in action. Nice job on a tiny subject.

[Kris_Smith (Kristen M Smith)]

Thanks @Mark_Seaver - it was always on the move and so I was amazed I could get this at all. Haven’t seen another since.

[Glenys_Passier]

Oh! What a lovely little critter. We have similar but I have never thought of photographing one. A bit out of my skill set.

I love how you’ve managed to caputre his tiny face in such good focus in all frames. I like the lovely colours throughout as well.

I wonder how tightly stuck the debris is? I wonder what he looks like naked?

[Kris_Smith (Kristen M Smith)]

Hey @Glenys_Passier - sorry for the late reply. It was a total fluke that I saw the wee beastie and even with my ancient macro lens, I got the job done. Focus peaking be praised! I think if you look up lace wing larvae you’ll get a lot of photos from garden centers as I think they arrive sans-crud.