A Robber Fly Adventure

Crumby is slightly nervous when it comes to robber flies. That’s because Crumby read somewhere that a large robber fly, if carelessly handled, or maybe fooled with, can inflict a painful bite or stab wound with its beak or mouthparts.

This robber fly, an Efferia maybe, and large or big, was sitting around minding its own business when Crumby espied it. Crumby decided to take its picture. Yet at that particular time, Crumby had the 35mm macro on the camera. So to get a picture with that lens, Crumby had to get close. Real close.

In that kind of situation, Crumby resorts to live view. With live view, an average amateur photographer may focus while holding the camera out away from his face. Yes. In other words, the camera may be moved close to the dangerous bug while the photographer’s noggin stays a ways back.

Course, manual focusing at arm’s length is sort of difficult. But it is possible with a little lens like the 35mm. And of course, you also have to be able to see the lcd screen well enough to focus. This time, Crumby could twirl the lens and see the lcd so he got the shot.

Also on the camera, besides the 35mm lens, on the occasion that this picture we are presently discussing was clicked, is a little ghost over the pop-up flash. Crumby calls it a ghost because it looks like a ghost. Yes. It’s a bit of cotton cloth cut from a dress shirt that Crumby drapes over the pop-up flash and attaches to the base of the flash with a rubber band. It’s like a flash diffuser but looks exactly like Casper the Friendly Ghost.

OK. So right after this robber got its picture took, it hops over and lands on Casper' head. There it sat, not a foot from Crumby’s noggin on top of Casper. Hold it, thought Crumby. This dern bug if fixing to stab me in the noggin. It could put my dang eye out.

But the robber did nothing of the sort. It just sat awhile, eyeball to eyeball. How do you like me in your face, buddy? Then, off it flew a short distance, on to another grape leaf.