Earlier I listed my pick of the best insect photos of the year taken by other photographers. Now it’s my turn. In 2009, I snapped 8000 exposures to produce 805 processed, saleable images of live insects. Below are my favorites.
A parasitic Pseudacteon fly targets a fire ant in Argentina
Male size variation in Onthophagus dung beetles
Aphaenogaster ants are tempted by the elaiosome of a bloodroot seed, Illinois
Eastern treehole mosquito larvae, Illinois
Trophallaxis in wood ants, Wisconsin
Face to face with a giant water bug, Illinois
male and female northern walking sticks, Illinois
metamorphosis in a twig ant, Florida
A miniature trap-jaw ant forages in the leaf litter, Florida
A volley of debris hurled by an ant lion traps a carpenter ant, Florida
The tip of the trap-jaw ant's trap, Argentina
Myrmecos Blog 
Trophallaxis ahaha.
Great images, Alex. I’m looking forward to many more in 2010 . . .
Thanks Rick! And of course we’re all looking forward to seeing your stuff in the coming year.
Thank you. Interesting style differences; yours are less artistic and more precise than your “best of.” The photographers’ personal relationships with nature coming through in their work. Thought you might have limited it to nine, but why not treat yourself in your own house? If you don’t do it, no one will.
Specific comments:
-The bug pic is so colourful for a face of death!
-I like the autumn tones in the walking sticks (ON boy).
-The ant lion gets pretty artistic … I like it!
Cheers
This strikes me as a very fair assessment. Most of the photographers I featured in the “Best Of” list are artists. I am not- I’m more of a naturalist/scientist, and my images are intended to capture particular behaviors or particular species rather than any particular aesthetic.
So within the confines of the subject I aim for the best aesthetic I can. But that’s a different thing than setting out to create a compelling image foremost.
I was hoping the giant water bug would be in here – that’s my favorite.
The parasitic fly is my favorite in terms of a natural history moment.
The walkingstick should also be mentioned – the autumn tones in the background really make it.
I’ll have mine up in a few days – not to suggest I’m in your league. Perhaps I should title it “beginner’s best.”
Alex
The water Bug yes it Ok. But my all time favorite is one from last year collection Lonely it has very thing.
My favorite is the walking sticks. Well done, Alex! XXXMom
@Jack Jumper: where is the “Lonely” pic? This is the second year in a row you’ve mentioned it.
That’d be here.
Great photos! The parasitic fly photo is tied with the antlion photo for my personal favorite.
The trap-jaw ant foraging on the decomposing leaf is a beautiful composition – I’m a sucker for photographs that look like paintings (as opposed to paintings that look like photographs). It would look great on a cover of a book on soil zoology or at poster size on a living room wall.
My favourite: mosquito larvae.
I should agree with Dave. I love leaf litter ants, so I love the trap-jaw ant photo, congratulations!
I *so* appreciate your naturalist/scientist’s eye. While I appreciate the artists’ approaches, so often they obscure the true “nature” of the insects–and what excites me is a glimpse into that world that seems so distant from that of humans, merely because we’re too big to see into it with our naked eyes. Thanks for the travel to other scales. 🙂
Fantásticas fotos !!!.
Feliz Año Nuevo 2010 y no dejes de hacer fotos.
great, great, great!
love your photos!
Great selection, Alex. My personal favourite from these is actually the Aphaenogasters with the seed. Not sure what it is that I like so much about it; think it might be the rich green background and saturated colours (combined with a little interesting biology..)
The giant water bug and the trap-jaw ant from Argentena are my favorites…but you make it hard to choose as all of these are spectacular! You really had a great 2009 Alex1 Her’s looking for more of these in 2010!
Happy New Year in 2010!
They’re all spectacular, but I can’t help but say the water bug gets my vote every time. It’s so otherworldly in that pose. You did a great job capturing it: the stillness, the predatory instinct, the watchful eyes, the comfort under the surface. And I’m definitely looking forward to the marvels you come up with for 2010.
[…] scientific record and into the art of photography. His science also gives him an insight into insect behaviour, which allows him to photograph aspects of the lives of his subjects of which most of us are not […]