A mantis feeding on a wasp. One day your a predator, and the next you're the prey...

Tech specs: Canon 40D (F13, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon EFS-60mm macro lens with 37mm of extension (around 1.5x and 2x) + an MT-24EX macro twin flash (-1 1/3 FEC).

2nd is pretty gruesome! I like 'em both, sweet find.

Glad I just finished lunch. Remarkable shots, John. I guess shooting at 1.5X is almost like shooting long glass to you MP-E shooters, huh?

Kenny

Thanks Daryl and Kenny

@ Kenny I have a friend who calls anything lower than 2x wide angle

I have a frame that's even more gruesome -the mantis was ripping flesh off of the wasp and I got it all in the plane of focus...

excellent,you got the angle in shot 2,good focus on the eyes of both critters,doesnt happen all that often esp to me

Both wonderful captures- esp like #1 - oh to find a mantid in the garden
Brian v.

Thanks Michael and Brian

MacroJunkie was ordering mantises from someone -might be an idea if you want to photograph one and then turn it loose Brian.

Wow, fantastic shots John!

#1 is my favorite too, I think it's absolutely stunning! I've seen a lot of amazing mantis shots but this one really stands out in my opinion.

In #2 I notice the antenna is cut off and there seems to be some fluid coming out of it which indicate it could be fresh – did the wasp put up a fight perhaps?

/John

very impressive as always !! Nice work Dalantech

good find John, well shot. good focus with wasp eye showind detail
phil

Nice subject and great action...and the captures are as usual, awesome.

-Roy

Thanks again folks

johnhallmen wrote:
In #2 I notice the antenna is cut off and there seems to be some fluid coming out of it which indicate it could be fresh – did the wasp put up a fight perhaps?


I wondered about that as well. I didn't see the actual "take down" but probably missed it by no more than 20 seconds or so. The mantis was eating the wasp tail first, which is odd since they would normally bite the head off of a stinging insect. Maybe the mantis did take some damage, since there wasn't any dew...

Awesome shots great work getting the focus spot on
pete

Great timing. Great shot.

Mark

Thanks Pete and Mark