RedAdmiral Loc: Humboldt County, California

I'd seen these little "Jumping Bristletails" on the back wall of my garage numerous evenings. Looking for a subject for my weekly blog "HumBugs" hosted by the North Coast Journal (A newspaper local to the Northwest corner of California and surrounding areas) I decided to try to get a few shots up close and personal. This order of insects is one of the most primitive and ancient of all the insects, so I thought they might be a worthwhile subject. I spent a lot of time setting up the shots and getting the lighting close to what I wanted and watching my models saunter off the stage from time to time. What I'm getting at was that I was paying more attention to the camera than the subject. When I uploaded them into my computer I was surprised. They are covered in iridescent scales that change color depending on the angle of the light and viewer. I think we see them as grey because they are primarily nocturnal and the dim light makes everything black and white. Canon 6D, Sigma 150mm macro, Mieke Ring flash, on the first one, and supplemental light from a CAT LED work light.

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Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

Good stuff! The lighting shows the contrasting colors of the scales very well. I have not seen one of these for many years, and would very much like to.

newtoyou Loc: Eastport

Sippyjug posted some shots of these early December. cf.
Common, but not commonly seen.
Bill

EnglishBrenda Loc: Kent, England

I hadn't realised they were so colorful either, nicely done.

napabob Loc: Napa CA

good shootin.............interesting creature

RedAdmiral Loc: Humboldt County, California

The colors are iridescent, changing as you change the angles of illumination and viewer. Kind of like tiny flat sheets of opal.

RedAdmiral Loc: Humboldt County, California

They seem to congregate on the back (North) wall of my garage where it's damp. I suspect it may be a boy meets girl thing.

newtoyou Loc: Eastport

Cool and damp and dark. That is the preferred habitat. Males leave sperm packets that the females pick up. Whoopee. They are, as you said, doing a boy girl thing. Usually on rotten logs and bark, your garage side is sheltered and must be the equivalent of a shopping mall concourse for insects.
In reality, the scales are drab, no color. The color is 'refracted' light. Facets on the scales. A trait shared with grackles and starlings walking in the sun. A rainbow effect.
Bill

RedAdmiral Loc: Humboldt County, California

I think of the color effect somewhat like the fire in opals and/or the spectral effect of thin coats of oil on water. All that adds up to the fact that they change color with different angles. A really fascinating effect, but like the oil film on water thing it is pretty subtle until you work at optimizing it with light sources etc. Which goes together to render what we perceive as a plain homely creature into a bejeweled one.
I understand that in some species the male suspends its sperm packets on a thin filament. Kind of like Christmas tree lights.

ngrea Loc: Sandy Spring, Maryland

Great shots. Thanks for sharing them.
I graduated from Humbodt State back in the 60’s. If my memory is correct “damp” is an understatement for this time of year. I remember being drenched most of the time.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

I love seeing those little buggers. They are quite unique and very primitive. The colors of the scales are a vivid array of iridescent shades. Thanks for sharing.

newtoyou Loc: Eastport

I was on Guam in the 60's. Hotter, I am sure, and with daily rain and swim in the air humidity. But uncomfortable is uncomfortable, period. If you put a comma in place of the period after 60's, and a period after correct, it could still make sense. A child of the 60's.
Bill