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Enrico Bonino — Extreme Macro Photography and Paleontology

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Explore my newest Instagram Images

Fresh photo drop on Instagram
Take a look (you’ll need an account) — which one’s your favorite?

A nice Hemiptera with its wings half-open. The colour pattern that this insect had during its lifetime is clearly visible. It is a pity that part of the wing and the head were cut during the polishing of the amber (not me! 🙂 ). An exquisite hairy Trichoptera with beautiful eyes, perfectly preserved in Cretaceous amber. It seems as though it was captured in the golden flow just yesterday… I found this tiny seed on the kitchen table, which piqued my curiosity, and naturally I wanted to take a photo of it to see what it was. In my previous post, I showed a “naked” chrysopid neuroptera larva. Here is the same genus, but this time carrying a whole collection of plant fragments, inorganic debris, and small dead prey. Can you recognise the larva below the huge amount of stuff? Today I (re)propose a little marvel: a chrysopid larva (Neuroptera) displaying the characteristic dorsal structures used to carry pieces of plants, inorganic debris and small dead prey as part of its camouflage behaviour. Very nice Nallachiinae with feathered antennae (Neuroptera: Dilaridae) A few days ago, I posted a photo of a hymenopteran cocoon taken under darkfield illumination; today I’m sharing the same subject but with normal lighting. It’s clear that the silk that makes up the cocoon is less visible than it is under darkfield illumination. Both techniques highlight different characteristics. Have you noticed the fecal pellets produced by the larva during its development inside the cocoon? I have been fortunate, little by little, to have built up an excellent network of collectors and professionals working in the field of amber inclusions. I recently contacted an American collector (Forester Wallace) who had published on Facebook a specimen that immediately piqued my curiosity. When I speak of a microcosm, I am not reaching for a poetic flourish. I mean it literally: there exists a parallel reality that escapes us entirely, a universe of creatures that live, grow, reproduce and die within it, and of which we remain utterly unaware. Olexum sp. (Coleoptera) and an excellent parasitic wasp, Braconidae (Hymenoptera) Urban heat surfaces in Liège, mapped from Landsat 9 thermal data. Another less-than-one-millimetre coleopteran. Look at the shine and the tiny spotted texture on the elytron. I love it! Something really beautiful is emerging while processing the photographs of the Jan Simon-Pražák amber material. "Jumping" Ensifera (Orthoptera) over some Palaeolignopholas kachinensis (domichnia) I am particularly pleased to announce a new collaboration with the Faculty of Science at Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic) for the photographic documentation of amber inclusions. Thank you to Jan Simon-Pražák for his trust in me. cf. Orphnidae or Ochodaeidae (Coleoptera) Pollen grains on wasp setae An unusual (putative) Osmylidae (Neuroptera) Hidden within this amber lies a small treasure, invisible at first sight, the ancient resin is dark and impenetrable, and only when viewed against the light do faint traces of shapes and structures begin to emerge. Pedanoptera arachnophila (Neuroptera: Mesochrysopidae), a ~99-million-year-old spider hunter caught in amber A very rare mexican diving beetle to find: Copelatus sp. Dermaptera (earwigs) are actually one of the better-documented, albeit uncommon, insect orders in the mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber biota (~99 Ma). While they represent only a tiny fraction of the described inclusions, they are evolutionarily very important because they capture the early diversification of the modern earwig lineage (Neodermaptera) and preserve several extinct morphologies. Nice and unusual snakefly I am currently preparing my upcoming lecture at Utrecht University, organized by the LVGA (Landelijke Vereniging voor Geologische Activiteiten – National Association for Geological Activities), which will take place this November. Sejunctaberotha tenuis with traces of the original wing pigmentation. Behind the photograph: a giant termite in Burmese amber Flying Paraberothinae Adult Mantis (Dictyoptera: Mantodea)

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