Wednesday 16 April 2008

Poppy bugs

Rhône river bank, Piot Island / Bord du Rhône, île Piot

On Saturday afternoon along the Rhône river bank I practiced macrophotography. Bugs and poppies, no doubt this is spring. I know nothing about these little critters, I'd never seen or noticed them before. What about you ? (for those who are interested, my camera is a Canon G7 powershot)
---- Michel Benoit, one of my local readers, was quick to provide the answer: this species of beetle is called Oxythyrea funesta. Thanks Michel ---
avignon photos insectes insects coquelicots poppies Provence
Samedi après-midi sur un talus au bord du Rhône j'ai travaillé la macrophotographie. Reproduction sur fond de coquelicots, pas de doute, c'est le printemps. Je ne sais rien de ces bestioles, je n'en avais jamais vu avant, ou jamais vraiment remarqué. En savez-vous le nom ?
(pour ceux que ça intéresse, mon appareil est un Canon G7 powershot)
--- Michel Benoit, un de mes lecteurs locaux, a apporté la réponse immédiatement : il s'agit d'une variété de scarabée nommée Oxythyrea funesta ou "drap mortuaire". Merci Michel ---
avignon photos insectes insects coquelicots poppies Provence

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Scare a bee !

Anonymous said...

Selon moi, il s'agit d'un Oxythyrea funesta ou "drap mortuaire".

Anonymous said...

We have or grow poppies for the insects and bees and rabbits but I have not seen this kind of bug on them before. It is a nice macro photo.

Alex said...

Je ne sais pas ce que c'est comme bestioles mais tout ça est très cochons !!

Belle macros en tout cas !!
J'adore ta photo de hier...

Technodoll said...

I loove the beautiful flowers... but the bugs ruin the photo for me, eeeeeeeek!

(I have a bug phobia, LOL)

Janet said...

Hairy little critters! The poppies are gorgeous.

OrganicPix.com said...

Wow, the poppy bud has an unusual texture.
Looks like Spring is in the air! The poppies make for a beautiful contrast with the bugs.

Jilly said...

Impressive, Nathalie. I haven't even found the macro button on my new camera. these photographs are beautiful. Bit yucky the insects but all part of the happy relationship with nature. We've got poppies in bloom too. Just love the poppy. The detail in that first photograph is remarkable - I think we'll have to start calling you Abraham!

Olivier said...

pourtant on est pas le premier samedi du mois ;o). belle macro, moi j'y arrive pas, j'ai pas la patience ;o)

Anonymous said...

mince, moi qui voulais passer incognito...

Anonymous said...

Très drôle Oxythyrea Funesta... Comment dit-on "scarabée" au féminin ?

Anonymous said...

Je viens d'apprendre à l'instant qu'on appelait couramment ce scarabée "Cétoine grise". C'est quand même plus simple...

Anonymous said...

>michel: scarabéééééeeeeeeee

Tomate Farcie said...

I have seen these, but only in France in the countryside, not in California.

Thanks for the tip on the camera. I was wondering.

Bob Crowe said...

Excellent macro work. Soon you will rival Mr. Lincoln. Did you use a macro lens or extension tubes?

sonia a. mascaro said...

Wow! Fantastic macro photos, Nathalie! Well done!

Thérèse said...

Mais c'est coquin tout ça... je parle bien sur du coquelicot de la deuxième photo: que peut-il bien cacher?

En explorant le site de City Daily Photo: rubrique Community News "Grenoble DP in the newspaper..."
L'auteur parle de ton site dans l'interview! Ne rougie pas!
Ce journal a t'il interviewé Richard qui le meriterait tant et tant...

Anonymous said...

Oui Thérèse, Gaelle, 'bleeding orange' de Grenoble Daily Photo a eu la gentillesse de parler de moi dans Grenews (Grenoble news). Ca me fait très plaisir car j'admire son travail : Elle fait des photos de concerts magnifiques, des collages créatifs et de belles photos d'architecture.

Anonymous said...

Quant à Richard, je suis une fan depuis longtemps, sauf que parfois je râle contre son noir et blanc!

ichandrae said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rob said...

Fantastic macro photos. These are quite lovely, the bugs are interesting to see. They too enjoy the poppies.

Anonymous said...

Nice macros - hand-held? I guess the light is strong enough. You are using the same camera as Peter - probably the best compact digital around in my opinion, and it's latest version the G9. It also has a proper viewfinder and all the manual controls you need. I suspect Peter feels it is not a serious camera because Chuckeroon and I arrived with bagfuls of giant lenses and other heavy artillery

Anonymous said...

Richard yes, hand-held, and it shows, doesn't it? When you look elsewhere at what is done in macro photo, this is quite pitiful. But I'm still on a learning curve and there's no point in giving a Stradivarius to an amateur violinist. Plus I don't want to walk around carrying lenses and a tripod, I want to take my simple camera with me everywhere I go and take snaps of what I see around me. So at this stage I'm very happy with the camera I have, it serves its purpose beautifully.

PeterParis said...

We have the same camera! I'm also on the learning curve, but obvioulsy behind you!

Bergson said...

Oxythyrea funesta est assez fréquent sur les blogs j'en ai vu un faire des commentaires pas plus tard qu'hier avec Coquelicot

Chuck Pefley said...

You and the G7 both did a very credible job of making these images. Very Nice!!

ichandrae said...

magnifique photo.
Cesfleurs me fait triste.

AuCanada on a un dessin des coquelicots sur un billet de dix dollars et aussi on a un vers de"In Flanders Field".

C'est si petit qu'on a presque besoin dune loupe pour les voir.

Unknown said...

Whoa! I have never seen these before. Yikes.

Pod said...

well it looks like they are enjoying themselves. oh la la madame! raining here also. forever. had une chocolat chaud today et je pense a toi

Mireille said...

I discovering your blog...and I like your photos...
Every springtimes, I have lots of these little insects in the garden...in french (as Michel Benoît said)is "cétoines"...
have a nice day

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