For today’s experiment in photographing dead bugs here’s a beetle with brightly colored legs.
Part of the craft is arranging the dead bug so that he doesn’t look quite so much like road kill. Also the other part of the deal is first post processing all the input files in terms of exposure and light balance. But right now I’m just adjusting the merged file which is less flexible than the raw input files. But this is as much a learning exercise for me as anything else. So I’m taking some short cuts. The main thing is the merge does create photos with enormously wider areas of sharp focus.
This beetle is less than a half inch in length. I named him Bob.
what is the proboscis for?
The very long orange appendage is one of his two antennae. These are the primary sensing organs after the eyes. The other one is hidden behind his head and body. The black horn shaped part is a mandible. Beetles use these to grasp items and assist in breaking up food items. The smaller orange appendages are structures of the mouth that help in feeling and moving food into the mouth for crushing and swallowing.