iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

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.

28414

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

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

0329

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

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

1282

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

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)

0243

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

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

3657

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

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

126762

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

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.

111920

Reposted by Thorben Danke

Thomas Hörren @thoerren.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

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...

02911

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

🌱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?

08419

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

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)

2425

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

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.

1589

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

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

06412

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

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.

1637

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

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. 🥰

0423

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

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

16516

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

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

0291

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

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.

324749

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

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

1331

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Bloody-nosed beetle, Timarcha tenebricosa. Frontleg 🦾🦿⚙️A mechanical masterpiece. #timarchatenebricosa #tatzenkäfer #insects #coleoptera #entomology

18816

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

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

1677

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

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

59410

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

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.

0616

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

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.

616030

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

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.

0233

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Head of a small chalcid wasp at scale of 50:1. On the left you can see part of the compound eye, on the right an ocelle and at the bottom right part of the antenna.

713820

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

A weevil from the genus Polydrusus. Like many other weevils, it also has the mysterious hole between its compound eyes.

0768

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Birds are particularly sensitive to this color. Red serves a warning function in nature. Red insects use it to signal that they are poisonous. Some are poisonous, others simply use the color.

18616

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Hoary footman, Eilema caniola. Here you can see part of the hind leg of this moth from the subfamily of the Arctiinae. These striking spurs are visible even with the naked eye.

1333

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Purple thorn, Selenia tetralunaria. With its wings open and spread upwards, it sits as if it’s about to take off. But that’s its resting position, invisible in a pile of leaves. Here I was able to practice my outdoor skills once again and take 14 individual images of the head.

1173

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Colorful flies 🌈 Phasia hemiptera (Tachinid fly, Wanzenfliege) Ectophasia crassipennis (Tachinid fly, Breitflügelige Raupenfliege) Lucilia sericata (Green bottle fly, Goldfliege) Myathropa florea (Batman hoverfly, Totenkopfschwebfliege)

112726

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Hornet, Vespa crabro. Here you can see part of the eye and the first joint of the antennae.

1568

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

Geound beetle, Bembidion striatum. The fine structure of the surface only becomes apparent under high magnification.

0242

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Cluster fly, Artic fly, Pollenia sp. Since they sometimes hibernate in large numbers in or on buildings, some of these flies can be observed early in the year. Here, too, a closer look reveals a masterpiece of nature.

0275

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Pale clouded yellow, Colias hyale. Also called the Golden Eight in Germany due to the remarkable spot on the underside of its hindwings.

1274

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

Blowfly, Calliphora. A recent find from the windowsill. If you look closely, you can see that the thick hairs/bristles in the middle of the head are almost all broken. This probably happened from flying into the windowpane.

1378

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

Scorpion fly, Panorpa communis. Here you can see the three ocelli on the head between the antennae and the compound eyes, slightly blurred in the background to the left and right.

1393

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha. The last seven segments of the antennae of the male are particularly enlarged. They contain up to 50,000 olfactory sensors to detect females.

2609

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Rove beetles, Stphylinus sp. With over 64,000 described species, the Rove beetles are one of the largest families on our planet. Of the 6,500 described beetle species in Germany, over 1,500 are Rove beetles. 🤯 Most species have very shortened elytra, hence their german name „short-wing“.

0272

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Outside Central Europe (Image 1 of 3) Ground beetle, Lophyra alba, from Zimbabwe. The numerous white hairs on its head and legs are striking.

1567

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

🟢Green, nature’s color 🥰 …and my favorite color too. #green #nature #insects #entomology

0253

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Compound eye and ocelli of a moth (Pyralidae) A chance discovery through photography. I didn’t know that some butterflies/moths have ocelli. They probably serve to detect brightness and perceive light intensity.

18714

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Common brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni. This week I was able to see the first specimens flying. One of the most famous butterflies in Europe. Even children recognize it immediately because of its unique coloring. If you take a closer look, you will see this beautiful shade of green on the male.

0325

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

🇬🇧Oleander hawk-moth or army green moth 🇩🇪Oleanderschwärmer 🔬Daphnis nerii Look at this stunning wing scales. It is impossible not to fall in love with this beauty. Rare colors in lepidoptera have a special charm.

05114

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Bee beetle, Trichius sexualis. The hairstyle is unbeatable, only the wild bees can keep up with it.

310216

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Pygmy grasshopper, Tetrix sp. Even now in sub-zero temperatures (-5°C) I was able to discover this thorn grasshopper, just a few millimeters in size, under leaves. Probably a nymph, which means it is not yet fully grown and is waiting for spring.

2482

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Leg of a diving beetle (Dytiscidae) The hind leg shown here was sputtered with gold to take a picture with a scanning electron microscope. A very thin layer of gold covers the insect to make it conductive. I was able to photograph this beetle with my setup and „visible light“.

082

Thorben Danke @sagaoptics.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Cereal leaf beetle (Oulema melanopus) These small, shiny blue or red beetles belong to the leaf beetle family and are mainly found in grain fields and grasses.

2367

Reposted by Thorben Danke

Thomas Hörren @thoerren.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Die heutige Folge vom Tigerenten Club (KiKa/ARD) ab morgen in der Mediathek. Hat Spaß gemacht! Mit @sagaoptics.bsky.social ging es heute um Insekten und Insektenfotografie. Und vielleicht gibt es schon ein paar neue begeisterte Insektenfans, denn es gab jede Menge Fragen von Kindern! 🤓

0354