Comments on: Cricket Exposed

By: Critters in the basement | Dangerous Intersection

Critters in the basement | Dangerous Intersection — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 03:07:40 +0000

[...] Klarmann’s photos of the cricket in his basement inspired me to grab my camera when I spied a tiny spider in my basement (it was about 4mm). My [...]

By: Niklaus Pfirsig

Niklaus Pfirsig — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 02:30:39 +0000

Common Field cricket and the Cave Cricket

http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg17.html

By: Dan Klarmann

Dan Klarmann — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:39:29 +0000

I readily admit that I’m better at etymology than entomology. Anyone want to take a stab at genus/species/gender?

By: Niklaus Pfirsig

Niklaus Pfirsig — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:07:12 +0000

Actually, the critter in the photos is a closely related species to the common crcket and is commonly called a “cave cricket”. In the South they are often called katydids because of their long antennae

By: Dan Klarmann

Dan Klarmann — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:21:52 +0000

"Crickets require a high-protein diet. Without, and often with, an adequate diet the crickets will prey on each other." from http://www.anapsid.org/crickets.html, a site about care for reptiles explaining how to raise crickets to save on feeding costs. So crickets are not just omnivores, but willing cannibals.

Although crickets, like humans, can survive on a vegetarian diet, they thrive on a partially animal diet.

By: AnonaMiss

AnonaMiss — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:38:26 +0000

We had to raise crickets in elementary school science; the species we used, at least, were herbivores.

Great magnification on that camera! How nice to have such a cooperative model.

By: Erich Vieth

Erich Vieth — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:57:44 +0000

Dan: Those photos are extraordinary! As you know, I only recently discovered that there is a “digital macro” function on this model that would allowed these sorts of close-ups. It shocked me that I could get such a close shot of a mosquito, for instance.

Your photos are sharp and delightful. I didn’t realize that crickets are translucent. That macro feature opens up an entire new world.

I’ll mention (since you didn’t on your post) that you bought the camera for only about $160 and you got 4 Gb of RAM for only another $10. I’ve bragged about the camera to many people for many reasons. But the SD1100SI does include some terrific features (such as image stabilization) that you wouldn’t expect to find in a camera that small and that cheap. I’m finding, more and more, that I like to use the “Photo-stitch” software that allows for really stretched out panoramas.

I liked the Canon SE1100SI for the size, just as you mentioned. I wanted a stronger optical zoom and considered several alternative models, but choosing even a slightly bigger camera would mean that I wouldn’t be as inclined to bring it along wherever I went.

Welcome to the SD1100SI club!