Tiny Vine Weevil, Insect Macro Photography

These minuscule beetles are attached to the undersides of boards in my backyard. Without a closer look they appear as mere pieces of dirt. Their defense mechanism is most abrupt while photographing. If you get too close and one becomes cranky, he simply tucks his legs and free-falls off whatever he was standing on. That makes it pretty hard to reframe the shot. If you look at his middle leg, there’s a tiny mite. Perceptive shutterbugs might wonder if this image of such a small beetle taken with just a naked macro lens is a crop; yes it is, I cropped about 25% off.