The Ark In Space

What do You Have to do to Get a Drink Around Here?

Monday, 4 August 2025

Water! From a purely biological point of view water has a number of properties that are paramount for the proliferation of life on this – or any other – planet. Its life giving and sustaining properties is what sets it apart from all other substances.

Image Credit Flickr User wildxplorer

From the largest mammal to the tiniest insect we all have to drink. If we don’t we die. Here, we focus on the little guys, the ones which you can hardly imagine need much water. Indeed, sometimes they can be in danger of being carried away in their enthusiasm to sate their thirst. Thanks to some wonderfully macrophotography we get to see this most vital of functions being carried out – with some gusto – by a host of insects.

The Sublime Swallowtail Butterfly

Sunday, 21 April 2024

You may be familiar with the Common Yellow and the Western Tiger, but the Swallowtail family of butterflies is much larger and diverse than you may imagine. Take a look at some of the less familiar species, such as the Pipevine above, along with some stunning photographs, and revisit one or two you have perhaps seen before.

The Old World Swallowtail

Image Credit Flickr User Macropoulos

Although not restricted to the Old World, Papilio machaon occurs throughout Europe, Asia and North America. However, the alternative name, the Common Yellow, although more accurate, has less of the natural glamor that the insect itself exhibits. The black vein markings give the butterfly a striking appearance. The name of the insect is, of course taken from the swallow like tails which protrude from the hind wings.

Spider Mom

Sunday, 21 March 2021

This is one of the most remarkable pieces of film I have seen for a long time. Sure, we are all used to macro photography these days, showing all aspects of insect and arachnid life close up. Yet while that sort of photography needs time and bags of patience this must have been a labor of love indeed.

Funnily enough labor is quite an appropriate word here. This remarkable piece of film shows a spider laying its eggs. Scientifically speaking I should have said a spider ovispositing its egg sac but now you have that you know what it means in everyday speak!

The detail here is stunning – quite remarkable – you can see the eggs inside the spider before their sack is oviposited. Not only that it shows the care that the spider gives its young before they are born and even takes us to the birth itself.

This outstanding footage was taken by Alvaro Mendoza Productions, otherwise known as Amprods, a Spanish production company specializing in nature documentaries and, more specifically, in filming animal behavior.

Caught In The Web: How Spiders Eat their Prey

Friday, 16 August 2019

Imagine you are an insect caught in a spider web. What exactly will happen to you once the spider comes and, as it were, sits down beside you? It’s not a pretty process, that’s for sure but some amazing macrophotography can make even death a thing of beauty...

Image Credit Flickr User A Currell

Image Credit Flickr User e_monk

The fate of a creature caught in a spider web often holds a morbid fascination to the casual viewer. The urge to release them may be strong but many hold back, perhaps afraid that if they assist the struggling animal then a similar fate may well be in store for them.

Dragonfly Delight: A Life Cycle in Superb Macrophotography

Monday, 23 July 2018

The sight of a dragonfly on the wing is one of the more remarkable that nature has to offer. Here, with the help of some astounding macrophotography, we take a look at the life cycle of the dragonfly as well as its remarkable and unusual physiology.

Image Credit Flickr User JerryHsu

Image Credit Flickr User Vicki's Nature

The gorgeous colors of a dragonfly – these majestic insects of the air, have been a source of inspiration – and fear – to people for thousands of years. The order to which they belong is called Odonata. Many people regularly go ‘oding’ just as others go birding or butterfly collecting. Their life is cycle as unusual as their looks are striking.

Alien Nations: Up Close and Impersonal with Insects and Spiders

Sunday, 10 June 2018

It is little wonder that many movie monster makers look to the alien world of insects for their inspiration. Here, with the aid of some amazing macrophotography, get up close and impersonal with some strange species that might not look too out of place in a sci-fi movie.

Image Creduit Flickr User Charles Lam

There are around ninety species of beetle backed flies – and this is one of them. Native to Asia and Africa they do are small sized insects but with macrophotography they do not look quite so small. The reason for its swollen appearance is not because it is about to lay eggs (or has just ingested something larger than itself which is enough to start off a gag reflex, possibly). Rather it has an enlarged scutellum. This is the triangular plate behind its pronotum, which is one of the three parts that makes up its thorax. Its wings are behind the scutellum.

Virgin Mothers – The Aphid and the Food Chain

Saturday, 6 August 2016

Aphids may be the bottom of the food chain but if they were to suddenly disappear so, quite likely, would a host of other species. One of the more unusual aspects of the life of the aphid is that (apart from a handful of species) are all female. This means that reproduction is parthenogenetic and viviparous. That means that growth and development of the embryo happens without fertilization. It also means that the embryo develops inside the body – in fact the females are born with them.

You can see this happening in the above video, an amazing piece of work by John Dunstan. You will also get to see some of the aphid’s many enemies as well as its sometime caretaker, the ant. The camera work here is worthy of a BBC documentary – I was particularly struck by the shots of the insects struggling with single drops of water. Who would have thought that something that is wet to us could be downright sticky to our much smaller neighbors?

Nightmare Alien

Monday, 20 May 2013

Have you ever wanted to look away but simply couldn’t? I think that’s how I felt (still not sure) watching this footage taken by Friedhelm Fischer. It’s a macro time-lapse of a simple land snail yet as it is so close up it does somewhat resemble the nightmare alien of the title.

What was most fascinating for me was watching the tentacles curl out and retract. The upper set are called ommatophores (just call them eye stalks, it’s easier). The lower set help the snail smell itself along to its next meal. Absolutely fascinating footage!

Wildlife of Richmond

Saturday, 4 June 2011

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It may not strike you at first hand as a hotspot of wildlife diversity but take a look at this short film by Mark Svoboda. The place is absolutely teeming with life of all sizes.

The close-ups were committed to digital form with the help of a Canon 50mm 2.5f EF macro lens with its 1:1 life-size adapter. The jazzy music to accompany the piece is Hey-Hee-Hi-Ho by Medeski, Martin & Wood

Springtime - A Journey Into Macro Space

Friday, 6 May 2011

When spring had arrived in Vienna, Gunther Machu thought about showing the beauty of nature in terms of the landscapes and the insects – to take a journey in to macro space.

He started initially to just reverse mount his 50mm f1.4 lens (taping it to the adapter on his Lumix GH1), but then for quality reasons he bought a used 50mm f3.5 FD macro lens with a 25mm extender.

Almost everything was filmed in his garden, apart from the first sequence which was on a small hill very close to his house – he realized that the flowers there became extremely rare and are under severe protection!

It makes for a fascinating glimpse in to a world we only rarely consider – that which is right underneath our noses. Enjoy!

My Father's Garden

Friday, 22 April 2011

Sometimes the world can seem very large – at other times miniscule. This amazing short film plays on both of those feelings.

Mirko Faienza shot his father’s garden in Bologna, Italy, with all the requisite wildlife. It is all shot in gorgeous colors and the attention to detail is quite amazing.

Add to that the fact that the music suits it so very well and you have six minutes of bliss!

Danger in Paradise

Tuesday, 19 April 2011

Spring is a wonderful time and it can be experienced in so many different ways. There is nothing quite like taking in the beauty of a spring day from the top of a hill, just to take in the panorama.

On the other hand, if you look closely there are whole worlds beneath your feet.

This charming short film does just that and focuses in on one plant pot. After a harsh winter, life begins to stir again. However, around any corner danger may lurk!

Hats off to Gunther Machu who made this film and captured numerous insects very up close and personal.

Sleepy Bee

Saturday, 3 April 2010

Image Credit Flickr User Aussiegall

At first glance you might think that this bee has cast off this mortal coil and gone to honey heaven. In fact, it is just having a light doze. This is a simply perfect picture of an Australian Native Bee, caught as the sun goes down, down under (as it were!).

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