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Sunday, August 8, 2010

Giraffe weevil and its host plant Bridelia tomentosa

An SLR macro photography tip on how and where to find the bug/insect/macro subject you want. In my previous post , I also shared another slr macro photography tip on where to shield bug/shield bug nymph.

Most of the images here were shot with a Canon 40D, MPE65 1X-5X Macro Lens and MT24EX Macro Twin Flash with DIY Concave Diffuser.

A female giraffe weevil/long necked beetle, Paracycnotrachelus sp. on its host plant, Bridelia tomentosa. Its breeding cycle is only completed on this host plant. A complete nest building process of the giraffe weevil/long necked beetle on this host plant Bridelia tomentosa can be found here:

A female giraffe weevil on host plant Bridelia tomentosa.......IMG_2486 copy

Host plant Bridelia tomentosa. Female giraffe weevil builds nest on this host plant and lays egg in it. The nest is called nitidi. (Thanks to Ted @ Beetleinthebush). These plants are not very uncommon. You can find them even in urban area.
giraffe weevil host plant Bridelia tomentosa DSC00288 copy

A closer look of the nest (nitidi). Thanks to Chow CK for these two host plant images.
nest or nitidi of giraffe weevil on host plant Bridelia tomentosa DSC00291 copy

A male giraffe weevil/long necked beetle Paracycnotrachelus sp.. Male of this species has longer neck.
male Giraffe Weevil on host plant Bridelia tomentosa (DSC_4620 )

A female giraffe weevil/long necked beetle Paracycnotrachelus sp.
female giraffe weevil on host plant Bridelia tomentosa IMG_9528v2 copy

Another female giraffe weevil.
female giraffe weevil on host plant Bridelia tomentosa DSC_6139 copy

The next time you go bug hunting, just look out for these plants. Who knows, you might find your first giraffe weevil/long necked beetle Paracycnotrachelus sp. soon! Good luck! As for me, i hope to find a mating pair soon! Wish me luck :)

That's it for now and I hope you'll benefit from this slr macro photography tip :)

I personally find that great books such as The Smaller Majority and great DVDs such as Life in the Undergrowth have benefited me tremendously.

4 comments:

  1. An amazing beetle! I envy you being able to see these. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  2. Thanks JSK. Yes, we're lucky to have so many wonderful macro subjects here. But we do have to put up with the heat, humidity, mosquitoes and leeches though :D

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  3. oh my gosh... she is beautiful ! where did u find that ? im struggling in taking macro photos, n of coz finding them is just so tough!!

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  4. Thanks Soo. Just read the post above and try to look for the same plant. High chance you'll find the gee wees there. Good luck.

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