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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 22d

Clouded buff, Diacrisia sannio. It worked; with a little patience, I was able to document the final phase. It was exciting to see how the larva developed a shiny, metallic head shortly before pupation.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Aug 20

Pale tussock, Calliteara pudibunda. The caterpillar is highly fluorescent under UV light and easy to find at night.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Aug 19

Box tree moth, Cydalima perspectalis.
Here you can see the white and black variant of the same species.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Aug 18

Hempitera, True bugs.

1 Backswimmer(Notonecta glauca)
2 Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata)
3 Blue shieldbug (Zicrona caerulea)
4 Green shieldbug (Palomena prasina)
5 Red-legged shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes)
6 Buffalo treehopper (Stictocephala bisonia)
7 Water scorpion (Nepa cinerea)

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Aug 15

Details on a fly‘s head, incredible details revealed at high magnification. Usually unexpected… that‘s what i love about macrophotography.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Aug 11

Orange tip, Anthocharis cardamines. Five years after I found the butterfly, I was finally able to photograph the caterpillar and the pupa 🎉

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jul 27

Category: most beautiful insects on earth. Cuckoo wasps are one of my favorite insects. I love the play of colors and the metallic look. No pigments, just light refractions with surface textures in the nanometer range. These „colors“ never fade. Encased in amber, they last for several million years.

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Reposted by Thorben Danke

Thomas Hörren @thoerren.bsky.social · Jul 19

Wahl zum Wissensbuch des Jahres 2025

Ich freue mich sehr, dass unser Buch „Von Angesicht zu Angesicht“ dabei ist!

Ihr könnt uns sowie unsere Arbeit, mit der wir für biologische Vielfalt begeistern, mit eurer Stimme in der Kategorie „Ästhetik“ unterstützen: www.konradin-service.de/umfrage/inde...

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jul 5

🌱New green collage featuring lots of caterpillars. Most of these insects are hard to find in a green environment, but some of them glow in UV light at night. Have you ever tried it?

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jun 28

Hawk moths, or they big and beautiful caterpillars😍

Pappelschwärmer, poplar hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)
Lindenschwärmer, lime hawk-moth (Mimas tiliae)
Totenkopfschwärmer, death‘s head hawk-moth (Acherontia atropos)

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jun 24

One of my favorite insects: any kind of cuckoo wasp. These shiny, metallic flying gems always invite me to take a break and observe them, whether I’m out for a walk, in the middle of a conversation, or in a hurry. Simply fascinating.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jun 23

A fresh hatched ladybug. Ladybugs are initially light and soft. The wings unfold to harden after being inflated.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jun 22

Knee of a dung beetle, Anoplotrupes stercorosus. It is always amazing how many motifs such a beetle carries with it. You can lose yourself in it... and enjoy.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jun 21

Bee under UV-light (365nm) The bee doesn’t really fluoresce like some caterpillars and in reality (for the human eye), the eyes shine much more than the hair. There is probably a shift in the wavelengths inside the camera. But still an interesting perspective. Heading up for eggs and caterpillars. 🥰

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jun 17

Hymenoptera, one of the four mega-diverse insect orders. Approx. 160,000 species in all colors

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jun 13

Mirinae bug, Calocoris affinis. Green wherever you look 💚 The offspring of this bug hibernates in the egg.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jun 11

Some larvae I observed in the garden. These are the larvae of Hymenoptera. The larvae usually live on plants and resemble butterfly caterpillars. There are about 800 species of sawflies in Central Europe. I think the larvae’s eyes, or rather their dark outlines, give them a rather cute face.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jun 10

German yellowjacket, Vespula germanica. Incredible details on and around the tongue of a familiar visitor at the garden table.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jun 5

thanks Jason🙏

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jun 5

Bloody-nosed beetle, Timarcha tenebricosa.
Frontleg 🦾🦿⚙️A mechanical masterpiece.

#timarchatenebricosa #tatzenkäfer #insects #coleoptera #entomology

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jun 2

Snipe fly, Chrysopilus laetus.A characteristic of the males are the touching compound eyes. There is hardly any space left for the ocelli.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · Jun 1

Platyrhinus resinosus. A fluffy beetle with a wicked look. But like many things, it’s just a matter of perspective.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · May 27

Cuckoo wasp, Chrysididae, abdomen. These colors are created by thin layers of chitin that refract the light. These interference colors do not fade as long as the layers remain intact. These colors can also be found in some insects that have been encased in amber for millions of years.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · May 26

Rhynchites caeruleus. These small, shiny beetles are currently easy to observe. They initially appear black to our eyes, but upon closer inspection, they remind me of liquid metal.

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Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · May 25

Death’s-head hawkmoth, Acherontia atropos. What was particularly exciting was the discovery of the forked hairs on the sides of the caterpillar (see second image). It also made it into our book, in a special chapter on death’s-head hawk moths.

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