I was out looking for bees in this tree and found this. There was only one I found but this tree is known for the T Hawk Wasp later in the summer.
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Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon 90D 180 macro 1/640 f/11 ISO 1600 I used Topaz DiNosie AI and I am trying Sharpen AI. Not the best reviews out there but it was with a older version. I am trying this with what I am after. I have subjects that are just a little soft because perfect focus is not easy. More DOF means higher ISO so it restores focus and at the same time applies a noise reduction.
This image I did not use it because it saves with a watermark in demo mode. However, some bees and small subjects did a pretty good job with that slightly soft focus or movement. Too much off it does not work, however, with using HH to move fast Sharpen AI has recovered a photo nicely. Just said all this if anyone interested, it is free to try. All that said I prefer to have the photo taken correctly, but sometimes my bees don’t work with me.
Dean, this is very interesting, and I sure don’t know if it belongs to a bee or a wasp. The little holes are interest. Wonder if that is where they lay eggs? I like the lines that seem to v-shape in the bottom. I wish that out of focus limb hadn’t been there, but I’m not sure if it was safe for you to move to a different angle, or if you did, some other limb would be in the way. It seems a bit bright on the top edge of the “nest”, and the greens are just a bit distracting with their brightness below the nest. Otherwise, I think you managed this very well. I don’t like to get too close to the nest of any wasp or bee, because I figure they will do what they have to do defend it.
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It looks like a matid (mantis) egg case. The holes are where the young matids chewed their way out of the case. I just checked some references, and I’m 90% sure it’s the egg case of a praying mantis.
These are usually found on dried herbaceous stems such as goldenrod or native sunflowers.
If you are referring to Tarantula Hawk Wasps, they are ground nesters. The eggs are in a sealed burrow with a supply of paralized spiders.
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Paul is correct as this is an egg case for a mantis. It is a good diagnostic image that shows the shape and texture nicely. Well done…Jim
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Thanks @Shirley_Freeman , @paul_g_wiegman , and @Jim_Zablotny. Paul glad you and others can ID these things because I had no clue. I put a square crop in place mainly to give the subject more focus. Also removed a few distractions and used a mild high pass on the subject to help bring out the details
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Dean, you sure did a nice job with the mantis egg case. I like that the limb distractions are gone. You sure did far better than I would have done.
