Unusual Color - Anatis mali

Moved

… Abigail Parker, 17 October, 2009 - 5:19pm

Eye-spotted, Anatis mali

A. labiculata never has ringed spots, so this has to be A. mali. It also darkens with age but even the oldest individuals have slightly paler rings around the spots:

The color of aging A. labiculata tends to be more purple, too, while A. mali tends to be more reddish-brown or maroon, as seen here.

… Abigail Parker, 17 October, 2009 - 5:13pm

WOW!

Nice detail, what sort of set up are you shooting these with?

-TD

… Tony DiTerlizzi, 1 November, 2004 - 2:02pm

Thanks, Tony.

I'm using a Canon 300D (Digital Rebel) with a Canon EF 100 f/2.8 USM Macro lens. I plan to get a ring lite that fits around the end of lens and puts the light right where you need it, but all that I've done so far have been in natural light and/or the on-camera flash. The key to getting good depth of focus with this setup is to use a small aperture of f11 or f14. That ends up, in most lighting conditions without the ring lite, forcing a slow shutter speed. So, for this to work, the insect has to hold still and I have to have the camera on a tripod. Thanks for asking. If you have suggestions, I'm eager to learn all I can about how others work on these things.

… Timothy Robert Nichols, 1 November, 2004 - 2:12pm

Fifteen-spotted Ladybeetle?

I think this might be a Fifteen-spotted Ladybeetle - Anatis labiculata. Apparently this species starts out pale and turns darker with age - see this for a red specimen and the lady beetle poster here for a dark specimen (and more info). The pronotal pattern and spotting pattern look right for this specimen. Troy has some unidentified pale ladybeetles in the main ladybeetle guide page that I think are the same species: like this one

… Joel Kits, 31 October, 2004 - 12:33am

I agree.

Apparently most lady beetles darken with age, just much more obvious in the genus Anatis.

… Eric R. Eaton, 1 November, 2004 - 12:33pm