Weaver Ant - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Weaver Ants are one of the most common ant species found in Sri Lanka. I came across a nest in the garden and used the macro lens to photograph them. These ants are known for their skills in building nests by weaving leaves together using larval silk. Colonies can be extremely large and sometimes consist of up to about half a million workers.

More photographs inside.

 Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Interestingly the "worker" ants fall into two categories based on physical size. The major worker ant is about 10 millimeters in length and the minor worker ant is about half that size. There is said to be a division of labour based on the type of worker ant. The Major workers forage, defend, maintain and expand nests and colonies whereas minor workers stay within the nest and tend to the young and "milk" insects within close proximity to the nest.

Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) - Colombo, Sri Lanka

These ants are extremely territorial and can be quite aggressive when defending their territories. Although the ants do not have a functional sting, they are capable of delivering a painful bite onto which they spray formic acid resulting in intense discomfort. Some indigenous farmers in southeast Asia are known to use them as natural bio-control agents.

Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) - Colombo, Sri Lanka

The worker ants are capable of exchanging information by means of chemical and tactile signals, particularly when foraging and defending the colony. When a forager comes across a new food source it lays down a pheromone path to help recruit other workers to the source. These trails are also laid by patrollers to recruit workers to defend the colony from intruders. Tactile communications, such as body shaking, are also used to stimulate activity in other workers.

Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Photographing the ants was not easy as I wasn't using a tripod at the time. I had to balance the camera as well as a handheld flash while trying to compose these photographs. The fact that the ants were very active at the time (defending their colony from me) didn't help matters. I used a Canon 7D and the 100mm macro lens for all the photographs on this post. The light source was a handheld Canon 530 EX II.

Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) - Colombo, Sri Lanka

16/52 - Backlit Oranges

Backlit Oranges

For this weeks shot I decided to go for some backlit Oranges. I used a similar technique to photograph some backlit slices of Kiwi fruit a while ago and I thought I'd build on it for this shot. I used only a single flash for the shot of the Kiwi fruit and it worked well because the Kiwi fruit has a very thin layer of skin. It wasn't as effective for the Oranges as they have thicker skin. If I used the same technique the oranges would have a black ring around the pulp.

Lighting info and setup shots inside.

Setup shot - Backlit Oranges

The main light for this shot was a canon 580 EX II fired from below the Oranges towards the camera. It was fired at 1/64 and it lit up the pulp on the slices of Orange.

The second light, which was my fill light, was a Canon 430 EX II bounced off the ceiling at 1/2 power. The light from this flash lit up the white area around the pulp. The effect is very subtle but it lit up a section of the fruit which would otherwise have been black.

Common Tiger

A Common Tiger photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

The Common Tiger is a member of the danainae family of butterflies and is found throughout Sri Lanka, India, Burma and extending to South East Asia and Australia. These butterflies look very similar to the Monarch butterfly found in the Americas.  More images and info after the jump.

A Common Tiger photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

The Common Tiger has a wingspan of around 75 - 95mm and both sexes have tawny wings with veins marked with broad black bands. Females of this species have a pouch on their hind wings while males have a prominent black and white spot on the underside of their hind wings. In drier areas the tawny part of the butterflies hindwing is paler in colour and resembles a White Tiger.

A Common Tiger photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

This butterfly can usually be found in scrub jungles, fallowland and dry and moist deciduous forests, referring areas with moderate to heavy rainfall. The Common Tiger is a strong flier and it never flies rapidly or high. However it has stronger and faster strokes than the Plain Tiger.

A Common Tiger photographed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Members of this family are leathery, tough to kill and fake death. They are unpleasant to smell and taste and, as a result, they are soon released by the predators. They also gather toxins from some of the plants they feed on. In order to advertise their unpalatability, they are brightly coloured and have bold markings.

These images were captured with a Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens.

Plain Tiger

The Plain Tiger, also known as the African Monarch, is a common butterfly found throughout Asia and Africa. It belongs to the Danainae subfamily of the brush footed butterfly family, Nymphalidae. It is also supposed to have been one of the first butterflies used in art. A 3500 year old fresco in Luxor features this butterfly and is the oldest known illustration of the species.  More images and info inside.

The Plain Tiger is a medium sized butterfly with a wing span of around 7-8 cm. The male Plain Tiger is smaller than the female but is brighter in colour. This leads me to believe that the butterflies in the first two images are male.

Male Danaines have a number of secondary sexual characteristics. In the case of the Plain Tiger, these include, a pouch on the hind wing and two brush  like organs which can be pushed out of the tip of the abdomen. The pouch of the male is white with a thick black border and bulges slightly. It is a cluster of specialised scent scales used to attract females.

This butterfly is found in any environment including the desert (if there is food available) and up to an elevation of 9000 feet. This butterfly is probably the commonest of Indian butterflies and is a familiar site to almost everyone on the subcontinent. 

The Plain tiger is protected from predators due to the unpalatable alkaloids ingested during the larval stage. Due to this fact the butterflies fly at a leisurely pace in a straight line giving would be predators ample time to identify it and avoid attacking it.  The butterfly has a tough leathery skin to survive occasional attacks. When attacked, it fakes death and oozes a nauseating liquid which makes it smell and taste terrible. The advantage of protection has led to a number of edible butterflies evolving to resemble inedible butterflies. They are referred to as mimics. The resemblance is not limited to colour, shapes and markings but also in behavioural and flight patterns. The Plain tiger is mimicked by the Indian Fritillary and the Danaid Eggfly. The Indian Tamil Lacewing, the Leopard Lacewing and the Common Palmfly have a general resemblance common to both the Plain Tiger and the Common Tiger.

All these images were captured with the Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. I would have been able to get closer to the butterfly but was limited by the minimum focusing distance of the lens.

Puliyankulam Tank - Anuradhapura

Puliyankulam is a relatively small tank and is situated on the A9 highway north of Anuradhapura. It is about a ten minute drive from the centre of town and is definitely worth a visit. For those of you who are not aware of what a "tank" is, it is a man made lake that is used for irrigation. The north central province of Sri Lanka is covered with a number of tanks that have been built over a thousand years ago, with the aim of collecting rain water in order to cultivate paddy in the drier months. More info and images after the jump.

We visited the tank one evening in January with the hope of doing some bird watching. It was around five in the evening when we got there and the light was fantastic for photography. Apart from a herd of water buffalo, we had the place to ourselves. As can be seen in the first and third images of this post, there was an abundance of lush green grass growing in the fertile soil around the tanks and in the shallows. Beyond the grasses the tank was covered with lotus and the area was teeming with bird life. Our sightings that evening included Common Kingfishers, Egrets, Grebes and Darters. 

We didn't wonder around too much to be honest.  We found a large rock on which we sat while watching the sun dip below the horizon. I'm an outdoors person and this to me, was one of the best ways to spend an evening, surrounded by wildlife and far away from the hustle and bustle of a city. 

All the images on this post were captured using the 7D with the 100-400mm lens mounted on it. These images must be viewed large.

Sunset in Sydney