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Hello, I've been testing out a new ostracod macrophotography setup using a 20x microscope objective. The first photo shows a Ponderodictya sp. from the Silica Formation collected at Paulding, OH taken with a 10x objective. The second photo shows a Ponderodictya sp. also from the Silica Formation but collected at Fossil Park in Sylvania and photographed with a 20x objective. Need to experiment with the lighting so will post other specimens in this thread.

Besides paleontology, my other big thing is insects, particularly the aquatic ones. My favorite part about spring is that the retention pond near my house starts to teem with them. I'm particularly fascinated by the larvae of the predaceous diving beetles (family Dytiscidae) which some people colloquially refer to as "Water Tigers". Went down there today and managed to see and catch a couple of them. It's still early in the season, so they haven't beefed up yet. This one here was maybe only 1.7 cm long. This particular larva is a member of the Dytiscus genus, commonly known as the "greater predacious diving beetles". They're worthy of that moniker, as they're viscous predators. Soon this one will be big enough to start preying on tadpoles, if it isn't already. Breathing tube is at the tip of the abdomen. As an adult beetle, air bubbles will be carried underneath the elytra, or wing covers. Broke out my cheap little $10 microscope phone attachment for a headshot. Those mandibles have little orifices at the tip that they can use to inject digestive enzymes into prey. Once the insides have been liquified, the same mandibles are used to suck the resulting goo out. Horrifying stuff. As an adult, those mandibles will be greatly reduced, and it will use them along with the maxillae to chew rather than suck.