Green Shield Bug

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Another very common bug from the Stink Bug family Pentatomidae. Clicked this in a forested area, but it is often found inside houses as well, especially during the monsoon. Like other bugs from the family, it secretes a foul smelling liquid when disturbed.
The 2 small red dots on the head are an additional pair of simple eyes called ocelli. Unlike the primary organs of sight- the compound eyes, the simple eyes cannot produce detailed images, but only detect light intensity. Their number, arrangement and degree of function differs among species.
(Further details on this at: Insect Morphology and Anatomy (The Head) (http://www.earthlife.net/insects/anat-head.html))

This information is something I didn't know before. In fact I had never noticed the simple eyes even though I have seen this bug very often. So the macro lens is also proving to be a very good teacher. :D

Canon EOS 500D + Canon 100mm Macro USM
Manual Exposure
Tv 1/200
Av 16.0
ISO 400
Flash On (at flash EC = 0)
Full frame image, hand held
Processed in LR 3.

Thanks, comments and critiques awaited.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Thanks for sharing the information in detail, as it also increases our knowledge base. The details are nice. Which plant is this? The red colour attracts attention. I was thinking of different ways to compose so that you could include the flower in full or avoid the out of focus vegetation in the background. But I think this would be the best way to compose. Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Difficult composition. Moving to the left would have helped in avoiding the out of focus elements in the background. However, that would have impacted the amount of details in the body as the focal plane would have passed through the head and the body portion would have become out of focus. In the present case, a part of the body is nearly parallel to the focus plane and is partly covered by depth of field.

Good information. It certainly increases our knowledge and reminds us how less we know about nature.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Wow! Lovely image Abhishek, the texture on the back gives a feeling of some designer work done using small diamonds:001_smile. Thanks for info
tfs

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Thanks Mrudul, Sabyasachi and Praveen for the replies.
I was trying for an all-red BG for this bug. I did manage to get some shots with a smooth red BG, but as you have mentioned already, this image has a major part of the bug parallel to the sensor, so this one has the most details.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Nice colours and details looks very nice.
TFS
Roopak

[Bhargava Srivari]

The colors have come out well...the details are good as well. Still, post the one with the all-red BG..might be worth a look:)

[Ashok Karan]

Excellent picture with vibrant colours. Ashok Karan