The Sagra beetle

 These are the gorgeous, iridescent, Sagra beetles, commonly referred to as frog-legged beetles or kangaroo beetles. Canon EOS-5D mkIII canon EF70-200mm f/2.8 IS II USM lens at 200mm. Manfrotto tripod. Extension ring. Bounce reflector card.

1/45s f/13 ISO800

Unfortunately, because of their wonderful colours they are highly popular among insect collectors, and you can find them enclosed in glass, mounted, or in plastic cases as key chains.I had found these beetles previously next to Ma On Shan Country park, in Hong Kong, on some cultivated Lima Beans near my home. I waited for a suitably overcast day, and set out early morning; and was lucky enough to find this mating pair. It was not til later that I saw on the photo the cluster of small black-headed ants that are taking the sap from the stem where these beetles had been chewing previously.

 About this pair....I am not sure if they are about to mate or if this is another male seeing off a rival.  I have read that some males will try to assert their dominance by mounting his opponent, in a non-sexual way. The losing male will wait for the winner to finish mounting him, and then retreat when released. The beetle below is missing part of its hind-leg which could have been after fighting. 

For this shot I did not want to use a flash, so I used a tripod for the slower shutter speed, whilst using a “bounce” card to reflect light back up onto the insects. I also used two extension tubes to reduce the closest focus distance of my telephoto lens, and retain more detail.

The sky was overcast, it was late afternoon, so ideal for portraits and images - as long as nothing moved! These guys love to wave their antennae, and also there was a fair breeze blowing on the plants, meaning shutter speed could not be lower than around 1/45s. So, this dictated everything else...as i knew i needed a closed aperture for depth of field of around f11, which gave some depth, but also a lovely background bokeh.      Location: Lion's Nature Education Centre, Sai Kung

Firstly, a bit more about this wonderful beetle. This brightly coloured, iridescent species can be found across Southeast Asia, and can grow up to 5 cm long. It doesn't use its hind legs for jumping, instead they're used to cling onto stems and foliage while it eats, and its grip is aided by scores of tiny hair follicles that cover the surface pads of its "feet" (I will do a blog later on super macro photography, showing this). But it is also believed that these larger legs evolved as the result of male-on-male contests over females.

Adult and larval beetles feed on all sorts of plant tissue, and can be a pest of cultivated plants. This chappy was happily chewing away on some Lima Bean stalks, and they can act as a vector of plant diseases. Unfortunately, because of their wonderful colours they are highly popular among insect collectors, and you can find them enclosed in glass, mounted, or in plastic cases as key chains.