The Flickr Grönsandjägare Image Generatr

The green tiger beetles (Cicindela campestris) don't always glitter, some of them have a more matte finish, but this one from Tyresta by in Tyresta National Park had a great texture - plus those amazing pink legs of course.

It only takes one. Basically all the green tiger beetles (Cicindela campestris) running around next to the parking lot at the main entrance to Tyresta National Park where just as shy as always. I caught a few with the camera and one or two couples which were interlocked in mating which nicely enough makes them less prone to escape.

And then there is this one. For starters, she refused to fly and just kept running which makes things so much easier. And then, after a while of shooting, I began hearing her with my hand which also worked - until she jumped onto the hand!

I must have very nice hands or something, buecause she found a finger she liked and stayed there. And kept staying. I had time to take several shots (this one is at 1.8:1 mag) and even used the hand she was sitting on to rotare the ring on the lens to adjust the magnification without her leaving. Then my son called so I took the call and talked to him with Mrs. Tiger still on the finger and after finishing the call, I used the phone camera to film her a little - which can be found here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54499442618/

A short behind the scenes video of a female green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris) who, unlike all the other tigers there in Tyresta National Park that day, didn't immediately run or fly away when I got close and instead sat still on my finger for as long as I wanted.

One of the photos taken with the "real" camera here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54499531235/

At this time of year, right next to the ditch betwee the forest and the (gravel) parking lot at the main entrance to the Tyresta National Park (ie not the one I typically visit) there is a multitude of green tiger beetles (Cicindela campestris) trying to find a mate and bury their eggs in the ground.

Tiger beetle life is built on speed and they are pretty much always jumpy, but when hooking up like these two, it is actually a bit easier to get close. The tricky part (apart from the sneaking) is to line up the focus plane so you get an eye on each of them in focus which sorta worked here.

From this particular angle, this female green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris) came out looking especially sinister. I mean, with this meancing jaws and large eyes, they have a pretty serious look to them to begin with, but there is something extra here.

This is a two-exposure focus stack since she decided to stay still and also because the new Godox V860III recharges in like an instant compared to the older unit. Photo taken near the Stenbäcken creek outlet into the Nedre Dammen pond at Åva-Stensjödal in Tyresta National Park,south of Stockholm, Sweden in mid-April of 2025.

A really close (3.7:1 mag) portrait of the same girl here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54457008154/

Really quite stoked with getting a couple of captures of this mating pair of green tiger beetles (Cicindela campestris) using the MP-E65mm lens.

It took a bunch of tries, but I eventually managed to line up properly to get the eyes of both of them in focus at the same time.

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52889278981/in/

Part 2 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53054955074/

So for the 2025 season, I've upgraded my flash from a Godox TT685 to a much faster recycling Godox Ving 860III and also
built myself a new flash diffuser for it. This took me some time and some prototyping, but this week I finally got v1 of my Handmaid diffuser completed and so far I am very pleased. Photos showing the design chioces will follow eventually.

Today, the season started for me when I took the new diffuser to Åva-Stensjödal in Tyresta National Park, south of Stockholm, Sweden, to try it out. This was a bit on the early side and there wasn't much out and about to shoot - but this lone female green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris) was running around in small a dirt slope facing to the south which I know is a good spot for them (and incidently also v-fronted jumping spiders).

At first we did the typical dance with them running around and me trying to keep up and get a shot in here and there - but then she decided she was done for a while and parked right in front of me, face towards me!

Very happy for the opportunity, I was able to try various magnifications and settings all the way in to the maximum 5:1 of my lens. This one is "only" 3.7:1 which in itself is a ridiculously high mag to shoot live tiger beetles.

The way I can tell (I think) that this is a female is by the size of the mandibles. While there certainly are impressive, the males have even larger ones which they use to grab around the thorax of the female when mating.

Another green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris) from Tyresta national park.

It weren't that many years ago that I saw my first one of these, but nowadays I consider them almost common. Still bloody beautiful of course and more often than not a real effort to sneak close to - but Iat least I see them.

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53239657952/

Vegan FAQ! :)

The Web Site the Meat Industry Doesn't Want You to See.

Please watch Earthlings.

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You can reach me at yoze83 [AT] yahoo.com

Vegan FAQ! :)

The Web Site the Meat Industry Doesn't Want You to See.

Please watch Earthlings.

-----

You can reach me at yoze83 [AT] yahoo.com

Vegan FAQ! :)

The Web Site the Meat Industry Doesn't Want You to See.

Please watch Earthlings.

-----

You can reach me at yoze83 [AT] yahoo.com

Here are two green tiger beetles (Cicindela campestris) from an April 2023 trip to Tyresta by and the main entrance to Tyresta National Park.

I was following one of them hoping for it to stop so I could get a decent shot but it spotted another one and ran up to it and they stood there for a couple of seconds directly facing each other, before the one of the right yielded and turned a little to the left.

Since I had the MP-E65mm on the camera, this is as far away from the subject as I can get so I had to move a little to the side to be able to fit them both in frame here - but it worked out.

Something else that workd out was that they both stayed still for long enough to allow me to change the point of focus and take another shot and then focus stack them for a little extra depth of field.

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52851431880/

The most distinct visual difference between males and females are the size of the mandibles as the males have bigger ones - but based on that - this would be two females. I'm not sure.

Here's a shot where it is easy to see the size difference between the mandibles: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/50283759436/

The green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris), and all tiger beetles really, use their speed to catch their prey. They simply run faster than them and use those great big jaws to grab it.

This particular one was out and about in Åva-Stensjödal in Tyresta National Park, Sweden, when I managed to sneak close enough to get this shot.

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53977634726/

My album with tiger beetle shots here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/albums/72157719182564816/

The green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris), and all tiger beetles really, use their speed to catch their prey. They simply run faster than them and use those great big jaws to grab it.

This particular one was out and about in Åva-Stensjödal in Tyresta National Park, Sweden, when I managed to sneak close enough to get this shot.

My album with tiger beetle shots here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/albums/72157719182564816/

So it is early September (of 2020), which around Stockholm Sweden means autumn has arrived and the number of insects out and about have dropped significantly.

On a walk out in the forest near our home together with my family I still naturally brought the camera - as you never know.

Apart from a few spiders and not much else, the trip was coming to an end without anything really interesting, plus the weather looked like it was gonna take a serious turn for the worse with dark clouds looming.

And that's when I saw the familiar green glisten of a green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris) on the path in front of us!

The usual crawling and walking on my knees followed - but this one wonderfully enough decided to pause and pose a little bit for me and I ended up with this shot which quite possibly is my favourite of 2020 (along with Pt. 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/50573784107/ and Pt. 2 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/50926158808/)!

Oh, and we got back just as the heavens opened with a massive rain.

A rather close (2.2:1) over-the-shouder shot of a green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris) from one year and one day ago (April 18th of 2023) next to the parking lot at Tyresta by in Tyresta National Park southeast of Stockholm, Sweden

Not really sure how to describe the colouration of the compound eyes on this one, but it looks cool!

Just a pair of green tiger beetles (Cicindela campestris) in the process of making more tiger beetles in Åva-Stensjödal in Tyresta National Park, south of Stockholm, Sweden.

This shot is nice in that you can easily see how much larger the male's mandibles are - I do however not know if they are larger for hunting purposes as well and not just for holding on to the missus.

A two-exposure focus stack of the face of a green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris) from Tyresta by in the Tyresta National Park from April of last year (ie 2023).

This was taken at 3.9:1 magnification which means that the beetle was around 45 mm / 1.75" from the front glass.

When I found my first green tiger beetles (Cicindela campestris) I was astonished to see how fast they were running , but pretty soon I managed to at least get some decent photos of them even though I was nowhere near 1:1 magnification.

Practice makes perfect though so eventually I figured out how to get close so this is a shot taken using the Canon MP-E65mm lens set to 2.2:1 magnification which I would have considered ridiculously close at the beginning.