Tylopelta gibbera, a wee, brown, spec-like, treehopper. This species runs from Central America north where it quietly sips sap from the tick-trefoil plant group. These specimens came from the Sarah Kocher lab at Princeton, where they were imprisoned in small net cages in greenhouses while Sarah and her white-coated lab staff use lasers to listen in on treehopper sex talk; where competing males shout to females by drumming on the plants making tiny vibes that, if played correctly, are aphrodesial to any female in the area. They are using the treehopper's molecules to deconstruct why, where, and how these sexy vibrations vary across the landscape. Who knew. Both 10x and 5x shots involved. 04:20, 21 November 2016 (UTC)04:20, 21 November 2016 (UTC){{{{{{0}}}}}}04:20, 21 November 2016 (UTC)04:20, 21 November 2016 (UTC)

All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish.

Photography Information: Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, and 10x Nikon microscope lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200

Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all Ye know on earth and all ye need to know

        " Ode on a Grecian Urn"
                      John Keats

You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen:

Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World www.qbookshop.com/products/216627/9780760347386/Bees.html...

Basic USGSBIML set up: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY

USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4

PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up: ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/er/md/laurel/Droege/How%20to%20Take%20MacroPhotographs%20of%20Insects%20BIML%20Lab2.pdf

Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques: plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo or www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU

Excellent Technical Form on Stacking: www.photomacrography.net/

Contact information: Sam Droege sdroege@usgs.gov