photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Antje Schulte | all galleries >> Butterflies, Bugs, Grasshoppers and more >> Gallery: Hoppers, Damselflies, and others > Aphid Birth
previous | next
24-JUN-2006

Aphid Birth

An aphid is being born. They are soooo small! And note that they are born with their butt first. Once the legs are free, they start to feel around for solid ground (usually another aphid), and then wander off, looking for a place to feed. Usually they don't wander that far from their mothers. Btw, aphids can have young without being impregnated by a male, they practise parthenogenesis, which, in fact, is just like cloning, sort of, resulting in the daughter being genetically identical to the mother. A fantastic strategy if you want to cover large areas in a short time. The females can give birth several times a day.

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon MP-E65mm f/2.8 1-5X Macro
1/50s f/9.0 at 65.0mm iso400 with Flash full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
comment | share