Amazing to me is that out of the chaotic energies (at the local scale) of the accretion disk that became our solar system... out of those blind energies of quadrillions of terratonnes of stony masses smashing into each other should emerge an assemblage of matter as complex as this little nymph. And even more amazing is that this assemblage should act independently and efficiently and purposively pursue goals, again independent of the environment. Order emerging out of chaos, purpose emerging out of order, this nymph is a miracle emerging out of a mystery.
Yeah, the mind boggles at these thoughts. At that level, all life is a miracle, which is a good way of admitting that we are clueless how banging rocks lead to dragonfly nymphs. But we still have the nymph to enjoy and to make us ponder.
Another incredible nymph post. It's beautiful, informative, and humbling (reminding me that you've probably forgotten more entomology than I'll ever know. 😀). Thanks so much, Walter. Would you care to share at some point the basics on how you're shooting and filming these? Your scope and photography set-up? Thanks again!
Thanks for the appreciation. Yeah, I love those nymphs too!
For the macro and micro photography, I use a Dino-Lite Edge digital microscope with built-in LEDs, polarizing filter, 20x -220x, on a table stand. I also made a vertical stand for filming my vertical ant nest. The Dino-Capture software includes video, Z-stacking, extended dynamic range, sensitivity adjustment. My previous digital microscope was a lot cheaper but suffered from spherical aberration. Image size is 1280 x 1024, adequate for most purposes. I have found the microscope to be very versatile and productive. Hope that helps.
An addendum: I also bought an ocular digital camera for my compound microscope, but it's a disappointment because it vignettes a lot--- the image you capture is only a small segment of the visual field. The company's ads and descriptions don't mention that shortcoming.
I was afraid you were going to say Dino-Lite! 😀 I've been trying muster the guts to buy one (and shift a bit away from my stereoscope), but those Dino-Lite people have created multitudes of models. I don't do well with clutter, let alone decisions, so I keep avoiding making a choice on Dino-Lites. But thanks. Maybe I'll get brave and try again now that you've revealed these optics of yours!
Oh, I suppose you have a good point there. Perhaps you biologists could bio-engineer the nymphs to be as big as barns (a trivial task I imagine). Then my little palm size Elph would be up to the job. The only problem might be that if the lovely transparent critters got out in the wild, they might consider all of us tetrapodia tasty snacks. I'd have to get my photos from the safety of an Abrams tank!
definitely not a nut -- based on the feelings of love and fascination experienced by this correspondent! (consider the source!) and sorrow for the drastic diminution of dragonflies, damsels, etc.
Amazing to me is that out of the chaotic energies (at the local scale) of the accretion disk that became our solar system... out of those blind energies of quadrillions of terratonnes of stony masses smashing into each other should emerge an assemblage of matter as complex as this little nymph. And even more amazing is that this assemblage should act independently and efficiently and purposively pursue goals, again independent of the environment. Order emerging out of chaos, purpose emerging out of order, this nymph is a miracle emerging out of a mystery.
Yeah, the mind boggles at these thoughts. At that level, all life is a miracle, which is a good way of admitting that we are clueless how banging rocks lead to dragonfly nymphs. But we still have the nymph to enjoy and to make us ponder.
Another incredible nymph post. It's beautiful, informative, and humbling (reminding me that you've probably forgotten more entomology than I'll ever know. 😀). Thanks so much, Walter. Would you care to share at some point the basics on how you're shooting and filming these? Your scope and photography set-up? Thanks again!
Thanks for the appreciation. Yeah, I love those nymphs too!
For the macro and micro photography, I use a Dino-Lite Edge digital microscope with built-in LEDs, polarizing filter, 20x -220x, on a table stand. I also made a vertical stand for filming my vertical ant nest. The Dino-Capture software includes video, Z-stacking, extended dynamic range, sensitivity adjustment. My previous digital microscope was a lot cheaper but suffered from spherical aberration. Image size is 1280 x 1024, adequate for most purposes. I have found the microscope to be very versatile and productive. Hope that helps.
An addendum: I also bought an ocular digital camera for my compound microscope, but it's a disappointment because it vignettes a lot--- the image you capture is only a small segment of the visual field. The company's ads and descriptions don't mention that shortcoming.
I was afraid you were going to say Dino-Lite! 😀 I've been trying muster the guts to buy one (and shift a bit away from my stereoscope), but those Dino-Lite people have created multitudes of models. I don't do well with clutter, let alone decisions, so I keep avoiding making a choice on Dino-Lites. But thanks. Maybe I'll get brave and try again now that you've revealed these optics of yours!
In other words, my digital Canon Elph 2 point-and-shoot wouldn't work? Takes nice pictures of barns!
It's pretty hard getting a barn under a compound microscope, so your camera would work better, at least for barns.
Oh, I suppose you have a good point there. Perhaps you biologists could bio-engineer the nymphs to be as big as barns (a trivial task I imagine). Then my little palm size Elph would be up to the job. The only problem might be that if the lovely transparent critters got out in the wild, they might consider all of us tetrapodia tasty snacks. I'd have to get my photos from the safety of an Abrams tank!
definitely not a nut -- based on the feelings of love and fascination experienced by this correspondent! (consider the source!) and sorrow for the drastic diminution of dragonflies, damsels, etc.