Kabini Trip Photographs
Praying Mantis at Kabini
I’ve finally managed to process all my Kabini trip photographs. I’ve spent about 4 days there few weeks ago and have had one of the best elephant sightings of my life. I also used my studio flash equipment to shoot some macro after a long time. My favorite shot is the praying mantis above. They are masters at giving out those lovely expressions
http://kalyanvarma.net/photography/photo.php?id=243&tag=Recent
The bird in that picture is the White-throated Fantail (Rhipidura albicollis
albogularis). This particular race is under review and maybe split as Spot-breasted Fantail – Rhipidura albogularis – in the future.
hey, nice stuff dude. so did you do anything about those sloths? get in touch with cupa or something? its actually the only source of income for those villagers, but then these are animals and deserve their freedom. tough choice.
Lovely one !!
All those years on Entomology, I finally get to see a live one and not a etherised, pinned-on-thermocol type. Super!
Its beautiful to see the ant-mimicking spider in a real photograph. Ever managed to spot the spider mimicing termite? (I cannot seem to find a real photograph on the web, though I’ve read about it in Climbing Mount Improbable).
I love Praying mantis, they make great garden pets!!
How did you manage to get the black backround in this photo? Was this taken “in the wild”? Or indoors?
hehe, I know the answer to this question…
…but I’ll wait for Kalyan to answer it.
Re: hehe, I know the answer to this question…
Let me guess. It was somebody’s pants leg or saree that-thinggy-that-you-wrap-around-your-legs or some other article of clothing.
Re: hehe, I know the answer to this question…
Heh Close.
It’s actually my black laptop cover as the backdrop. I found it in the night eating insects at a lamp and with flash, you will always get the background and as I was shooting this at f/13, I needed diffused background.
Yep.. Getting them arrested is prob not the best solution 🙂
You studied Entomology ? Thats nice to know
Harsha managed to see some 4 diff species of ant-mimicking spiders in Kabini alone. Yet to see one termite mimicking spider 🙂
Make your photos available as desktop background’able images.
Amazing photos. Every time look at your collection, I wish I could set it as background on my desktop. I’ve a NEC Multisync LCD 1980SXi monitor which reproduces the colors very faithfully. Wonder how your photos would look at bigger resolution.
Any plans to make available some desktop backgrounds? Maybe a online calendar!
—
Vinay
Re: Make your photos available as desktop background’able images.
I was thinking about making a nice windows screensaver.. but backgrounds are fine too.. will prob sit and select the best of my pics and then put high-res ones up.
Mind blowing snaps..
No words to express. The Kabini snaps are mind blowing!..
Awesome stuff.
Cheers,
Arjun Prabhu
Very nice pic. BTW In your experience do wild animals care for privacy at all?
Also do you think insects can distinguish animals that are orders of magnitude larger than themselves, from inanimate stuff like boulders?
Deadly
I always wanted those black backgrounds,…. deadly….
bye the way do u have an account on deviantart
Excellent pic… the black and mantis green matches , just too well.
Depends on the animal and the habitat.. Most of the cats require their privacy and so do many birds and insects. But some are very bold and do not care whos around, or whats happening around them. In a place like Bandipur, one has to shoo the deers as they refuse to give way to the vehicles. In BR hills, its a great thing, if you can get a shot, before they disappear.
Superb as usual..
Hi Kalyan,
Your photos are superb as usual.. have no more words to say. Your pictures say it all. Keep up the good work..
~PPuthran
Awesome pics
Is mantis different from grasshopper??
Hi
Photographs are just toooooo beautiful 🙂
ant mimicking spiders
They do not mimic the smell of the ants…and certainly do not get into their nests. Ants can tell non-nest-mate ants; a spider isnt going to easily decieve them! A friend of mine worked on various methods these ant mimics use to evade ants. Occassionally they failed. The end result wasnt pretty!
cool… 🙂
wow! cool pic! I didn’t know a simple thing like a praying mantis could look so….cute! 🙂
Re: ant mimicking spiders
I know I read this in couple of places that they do raid the ant-nests using this method. Are you sure it does not ?
Re: ant mimicking spiders
there is evidence for this behaviour in a spider called C. bitaeniata which is a chemical mimic but does NOT look like the ant (Allan & Elgar,Aus J Zoo, 2001, 49, 129-137). For M. assimilis which you show there is no evidence.
Anecdotal evidence talking to a few ppl working on them suggests that these spiders live in pretty close and bold proximity, but avoid actual contact. Suggesting to me a poor if any chemical mimicry.
sorry fr being a pedant, i find misinf annoying…
Re: ant mimicking spiders
Thanks a ton for the information. I’ll correct it on the website right away. Btw it would be great if I can know your name 🙂
Re: ant mimicking spiders
natasha, ces. i thot maybe you’d guess
Re: ant mimicking spiders
Aha ok. I was thinking this was ajit or someone 🙂 How have you been ? Have not come that side lately.
Re: ant mimicking spiders
hmm, doing ok…wish i got to travel as much as you do though…just a teensy bit green. anyway, later n
I think you might enjoy this:
http://bugdreams.com/index_2.htm
mindblowing !! how do u manage 2 get the black background??????? i’v been trying 4 a long time not been able 2 crack it ……
Brilliant shot!
And an ultimate “what did you just say?” expression from the mantis 😀
I am a big animal person and I love your photo blog. Hats off for the great work.
– Harini
If you also want to get a chance of seeing penguins in the wild, we see them most days on an Akaroa Harbour Nature Cruise.
We should be embracing our Furry Brothers and Sisters, and looking after them, not dumping them, or killing them un-nessisarily.