Kaipullai(கைப்புள்ள)'s photostream

When Ezhil Sir told me that "Jumping Spiders" are cute subjects, I had my own doubts. How could a Spider be "cute"?

Not until I saw it for myself from the other side of the Viewfinder, I realised how cute, curious and gregarious these creatures are. All the eight legs and six eyes (out of eight) are visible in this photograph.

Shot with a reverse mounted Nikkor 35mm f1.8G Lens.

On Christmas Day last year, I bought a huge Cauliflower from the Local Grocer. When my Wife cut it open she found this big brown worm and was about to throw it out. I can't believe I took pictures of this worm which is high on YQ:) (I call it Yuckiness Quotient), but such is my love for Macro shots these days that I spent the entire afternoon photographing this "Ugly Beauty" :) It did feel repulsive to shoot this worm initially, but once we got to know each other better on the table over a Cauliflower, it was actually fun :)

After a lot of research, I could match this worm, to the Caterpillar of the Large Yellow Underwing Moth(Noctua pronuba). It is a common pest belonging to the family Noctuidae and known for causing significant damage to the Plant family Brassicaceae.

Shot with Raynox DCR-250 attached to Tamron 90mm f2.8 lens.

The Month of January is named after the ancient Roman God 'Janus' who is the God of doorways, of beginnings, and of the rising and setting of the sun, usually represented as having one head with two bearded faces back to back, looking in opposite directions, one looking at the past and the other looking forward to the future.

This colourful caterpillar which I noticed on a Milkweed Plant, Calotropis gigantea (also known as Crown Flower or "Erukkampoo" in Tamil) resembled a Railway locomotive which could travel in both directions. In fact I had a bit of difficulty in identifying the head of this Caterpillar, as it exhibits perfect symmetry and when viewed independently both ends of the train look like a Head :)

Although I had shot this image in the middle of December 2011, I could find the details only today thanks to Lawrence Duhon. This insect is the Caterpillar of the Queen Butterfly Danaus gilippus(Milkweed Butterflies)

Wishing you all a Happy New Year 2012.

Wishing all my Flickr Friends a happy, prosperous and click-filled New Year.

...from a "skull-borer" parasite, this Millipede('Maravattai' in Tamil) soon lost its mental balance and started making circles of the same place:)

Know not what happened to the Millipede after I went in search of other bugs, but should admit that I did have a thought of helping the Millipede get rid of the parasite, but better sense prevailed and let nature take its own course.

Shot with Raynox DCR-250 attached to the Tamron 90mm f2.8 lens.