Backyard Zoology · 8 January 2020
2020-01-08T19:47:51+11:00
https://www.facebook.com/backyardzoology/posts/pfbid0CWbSr9CZSRr8CpzAT5nkrbgiiQzY5MigqQi3PqmHMJkWSzKzMzBWin98q76sAJDFl

So this little critter caused almost all out war between the husband and I a couple of weekends ago. We hadn't had much luck getting photos all day so I suggested that we head out with our macro lenses knowing full well, Matt hasn't quite got his head around the ins and outs of macro photography and while I think his images are nothing short of incredible, he gets a tad frustrated which I kind of love 😂 That was me when I first started to use the macro lens and it makes me feel like an absolute profesh 😂 It's the little things 😂😂😂

Anyway, enough about my sinister side... I was over in one spot happily taking photos of a Lady Bird orgy, you know minding my own business. Matt was suspiciously quiet. You know when your toddler goes quiet, you panic? Well I kind of have the same reaction when we are out taking photos and the husband falls silent. It usually means he's found something amazing and isn't willing to share. I looked up and there he was, his entire top half of his body essentially inside this massive shrub. I left the beetles to their own brand of adult fun and scooted over, adjusting my camera settings on the way.

I kind of half yelled, half begged to know exactly what he had found. Turns out it was a little larvae of a Green Lacewing decked out with little bits of debris. I love these critters. Small with these huge mandibles to eat aphids. We were literally pushing each other out of the way, an elbow here and a well placed knee there, trying to get close our lenses in close. And the result? We both got kind of blurry photos 😂 Ain’t love grand? 🙌

Lacewing Larvae
Northern Illawarra