Some of you might have seen my Lamma-zine story being stung by what I assumed to be a hornet. It stung me through a mesh-covered sneaker and two pairs of socks, not leaving the stinger behind. It was such a burning pain that it required two days and nights of constant icing to make the pain disappear, but painkillers and antihistamine were basically useless and only icing helped, a very different feeling from a bee sting. Fortunately, I'm not unusually allergic to this type of venom, having been stung dozens of times by a swarm of angry bees in primary school.

After almost 2 days of icing it was OK and just itching for a few more days. I got a number of enquiries in person about my well-being from Lamma-zine readers. Many thanks for your concern.

I didn't get a picture of the hornet, so I still wonder what species it was. Maybe anonymous_guy or one of the regulars in this forum could help to identify it? I've seen these hornets several times while hiking in the hills these last few days, not being deterred by such a rare sting but wearing thick, all-leather sneakers nowadays.

These creatures are about one inch long, definitely much bigger than most bees or wasps, all very dark-brown/black with a just a solid bright ORANGE (not bright yellow like bees or regular hornets) band around their abdomen.

Any ideas about this species and how dangerous their sting actually is?

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

Vespa Tropica?

http://www.vespa-bicolor.net/main/vespi ... ropica.htm

This was one of the late Clive Brook-Fox's favorite topics, and it was discussed in some detail a couple of years ago - see

http://www.lamma.com.hk/forum/viewtopic ... et&start=0

There is some useful information there (if you ignore the smartass comments)

Ah, yes, definitely a Vespa Tropica, the picture and description are just spot on: size (24-26mm), look, colours, behaviour!

Thanks, soundbydesign!

They're all over the hills these weeks and quite aggressive, so be careful. The one that stung me attacked without me even seeing it or provoking it in any way. According to that very informative web page with some great pictures, it also says that "this species has been responsible for many fatal attacks".

I'm glad it wasn't a Giant Hornet. I know what they look like, all yellow-striped. Anonymous_guy got some fantastic close-up shots of those a few years ago, all posted in this forum.

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

Great to hear from you, bicolor!

I was OK after 2 days and nights of icing my foot and it didn't swell up much at all. Painkillers were useless, only ice helped to stop the pain almost completely. I got stung by dozens of bees at one single time in primary school, so I'm not overly allergic to them.

It probably stung me because it had crawled onto my sneaker, unnoticed, and then my motion, jumping at the time must have irritated it enough to sting me through my mesh-covered sneaker and two pairs of socks. No nest nearby, as it was an open, outdoor concreted area.

Well, another interesting lesson learned. What will sting me next as I have no plans to stay away from hill and off-path hiking. The weather is starting to get perfect for outdoor activities!

While we're talking of Giant Hornets, here's a cartoon by Harry Harrison in memoriam of the late Clive who had been warning Lammaites of these hornets with dire posters for years.

<img src="http://www.compunicate.com/Lamma/Blog/RIP-Clive-Brook-Fox/!IMG_1315.jpg" border=1>

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

Finally, I've managed to take a (very bad) photo up on the Snake Trail (from the windturbine to the Youth Hostel) of the species of hornet that stung my foot a few weeks back.

They're flying very low to the ground, about 1 inch long and like to chase ants and other small bugs. The first thing you usually notice is that bright orange band around their abdomen.

They're all over our hills these weeks, by far the most common type of wasp or hornet you're likely to encounter during a hike in the hills. They don't seem to be especially aggressive or dangerous, as long as they don't feel threatened by you in some way. Well, I'm (just a bit) more careful now...

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

Hi bicolor......... managed to snap this chap this afternoon......... this would also be your Vespa affinis.......

Bicolor.
A shot from about 3/4yrs ago... this sorta looks like the tropica, but from memory was about the same size as the affinis.... is it an affinis/tropica?

The only really large wasp/hornet I have seen on Lamma is a really big all-brown one.............. would've got a photo, but my dog ate it (alive).

Another shot of the Vespa affinis

And this one should be the Vespa tropica... the one you didn't get stung by...

These are "insanely great", almost perfect in every way shots!

I have no choice but to feature the 2nd one as a Wildlife Photo of the Day!

But how did you ever get them? This must be so much more difficult than the already difficult enough shooting of birds bathing in your garden pond with your 500mm lens from the comfort of your own home.

Please tell us more about The Making Of..., including technical specs.
and we've got another Lamma-zine story ready to be published!

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

Thanks L-G.
The shooting specs are as follows (although is still early stages & I need to tweak them some more..., but running out of time...: Wasps should be hibernating soon.):

Nikon D3 w/Nikkor VR 105mm F/2.8G
Focus Mode: Manual
AF-Area Mode: Single
VR: ON
Aperture: F/32
Shutter Speed: 1/250s
Exposure Mode: Manual
Exposure Comp.: 0EV
Metering: Matrix
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 500
Flash Sync Mode: Front Curtain
Flash Mode: Commander
Flash Exposure Comp.:
Group A: TTL +0.7EV
Group B: TTL +0.7EV

The technical equipment is as follows:


Camera w/Macro Lens
Flash Commander & 2 or more Slave flash units
Opaque Tupperware Box 6" high x 6" wide x 9" long
1ltr Soft Drinks Bottle (empty) (to fit 105mm lens)
2 x satay sticks
Big Green Leaf (preferred)
Water
Banana
Honey
1 x 1" high Jelly shot cup
Coffee
Cigarettes

How to:

Remove lid from Tupperware Box & keep lid to one side
Cut hole slightly larger than lens diameter at one end of box about 2" from base of box (I used an electric Bosch Grinder w/metal cutting disc attached)
Cut both ends from soft drinks bottle so you have about a 4" long cylinder
Fit one end of plastic cylinder on non-camera end of 105mm lens
Set Tripod at comfortable seated height
Put Camera on tripod & affix lens to camera
Put open end of bottle into hole cut in Tupperware box
Rest tupperware box on solid surface
Fill tupperware box 1" deep in water
Mix banana with honey 1:1 enough to fill Jelly Shot cup
Put banana/honey mix into Jelly shot cup
Place Jelly shot cup in Tupperware box in the water as close to end of lens cylinder as possible
Fix Flash Commander to top of camera
Place remote flash units outside tupperware box - set desired flash strength
Retrieve your Tupperware Box Lid
Measure 8" from one end of Tupperware Lid or 1" from the other end
Measure 1.5" in from both edges of Tupperware Lid at yr 8" mark & mark
Poke Satay sticks 6" thru Tupperware lid at the marks you made
Rest Tupperware Lid on Tupperware Box with poked Satay Sticks at non-camera end of Tupperware Box & leaving 4" open space at non-camera end of Tupperware box
Affix big green leaf against non-camera inside end of Tupperware Box (to form nice background)
Set focus distance at Satay Stick Markers
Set Camera Shutter Speed & Depth of Field
Make Coffee
Light cigarette

The why of it:

Lens cylinder is to give distance & extra DoF
Slave flashes coz Camera top fitted flash is too high up to illuminate Wasp in close proximity
Wasps are attracted to Banana/honey mix
Wasps fly into Tupperware Box thru open section of lid & descend slowly(ish)
Wasps fly to Banana/honey mix avoiding water & channelled by Satay Sticks.. otherwise they cheat & walk to Banana/honey mix.. this would not be good
Do not look thru eyepiece.. if you see the wasp in focus will be too late
Watch from side of Tupperware Box with finger on Camera shutter release button
As Wasps approach Satay Stick "markers" click camera shutter release button

If they stay feeding too long.... blow cigarette smoke thru the gap left around lens hole in Tupperware box to agitate them
If more than one wasp lands on you at one time & in close proximity of each other .... panic
Otherwise.....keep sipping coffee.................... is really boring

Truly excellent!

Oh wow, that's even much more complex and difficult than I expected!
Your own design or inspired by a Nat Geo photographer?

That's all quite a bit more involved than my own technique employed for my own hornet shot above which can be described in a single line:

Hike, spot hornet, take out pocket snapshooter, switch on, aim, zoom in, press button.

Any photo of your "professional wildlife photographer" setup to help readers visualise it better, please?

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

Haha..... no NatGeo input.... totally self-inspired by trial & a lot of error.

mmmmm....a photo (picture) to help visualise.... maybe this will do.............

Tubby gweilo sitting in an easychair swilling coffee & smoking cigarettes next to a tripod with a mounted camera with an opaque tuperware box stuck on the end of the lens and his finger resting on the shutter release button......... waiting for something to happen and hoping nobody is watching

Paper Wasp..... another one that didn't sting you....

[img]http:///lamma.hk/Images_2010/2010-10-29_-_Paper_Wasp_-_D3A_2646.jpg[/img]