Close-ups of "Spartocera fusca" | photooftheday
 Autor @joslud |
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Warm greetings, Camping Club friends. I'm back to share some close-up photos of a group of Spartocera fusca nymphs. It wasn't even 8:00 a.m. yet, and I went out to the yard to check on a few things. Suddenly, I saw them perched on the tip of a bush, huddled together to bask in the sun.
"Nymphs," not larvae.
 View from above: A vibrant array of colors: its thorax and head a deep coral red. Its still-forming wings were a vivid orange with darker markings; its segmented and exposed abdomen displayed alternating black and orange stripes. |
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The first thing I noticed was that this wasn't a group of adults. They were developing bed bugs; at this stage, they're called "nymphs," not larvae like other insects.
Nymphs are individuals still maturing and haven't yet developed wings. Their bodies are still enclosed, like in a capsule. Despite their immaturity, they were quite large, almost as big as my thumbnail, which indicated they were in advanced stages of development.
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On their heads, I could make out a sharp, long mouthpart, the sucking organ they use to feed. Their long, black antennae with red bases gave them a truly intimidating appearance. Yellow markings are visible on their undersides.
Captures in group
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Clasificación taxonómica:
- Orden: Hemiptera
- Suborden: Heteroptera
- Superfamilia: Coreoidea
- Familia: Coreidae
- Tribu: Spartocerini
- Género: Spartocera Laporte, 1832
Especie
I captured these specimens in the state of Yaracuy, Venezuela. According to Wikipedia, and based on its geographic location, it is possible that this is the species: Spartocera fusca
When they emerge from the nymph stage, adults usually molt into shades of brown, gray, or ochre brown with yellow patterns, which allows them to blend in much better with the bark and dry branches.
Editting
I used my Umidigi phone's 48MP A7S camera. The insects were perched on the tip of a thin branch, swaying in the slightest breeze, which made macro focusing difficult.
The raw photos weren't very sharp due to the challenging conditions and the time of day. However, I did my best to improve them with Lightroom: noise reduction, exposure correction, and a slight sharpening boost allowed me to recover valuable details that the camera could barely capture.
Imágenes
Las imágenes son de mi propiedad. Camara A7S Celular Umidigi
 Original production by @joslud |