Two pollen grain of a sunflower on a hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) wing at a 50:1 magnification. Most of the sunflower pollen are yellow but these are white.

„Why did you decide to photograph insects?“ - A question I am often asked. A closer look at what often goes unnoticed. The front claw of the musk beetle, captured in extreme detail, reveals a world of structure, precision, and quiet strength. Every curve and edge tells a story shaped by evolution—functional, intricate, and unexpectedly beautiful. These kinds of details exist everywhere in the insect world. Every leg, wing, and antenna carries the same level of intricate design, waiting to be discovered by those who look closely. That’s why! And i love it 🥰

Behold the intricate head of a female southern hawker dragonfly (Aeshna cyanea) in this highly magnified view. At the center, three small ocelli sit atop the head like polished gems, flanked by the enormous compound eyes that dominate the scene with their mosaic-like facets. These ocelli, or simple eyes, are specialized for detecting changes in light intensity and helping the dragonfly maintain stability during flight. Behind them lie the compound eyes, each composed of up to 30,000 ommatidia—tiny individual visual units that function like mini-eyes, complete with their own lenses and photoreceptors. Each ommatidium captures a small portion of the visual field, contributing to a nearly 360-degree panorama that allows the dragonfly to spot prey with remarkable precision. What truly sets their vision apart is the array of color receptors. While humans rely on three types of cones for color perception, dragonflies like the southern hawker possess 11 to 30 different opsins, enabling them to see ultraviolet light and a spectrum far beyond our own, from short-wavelength blues to long-wavelength reds. This advanced color vision aids in hunting, navigation, and even mate selection in their vibrant world. Humans have 3 types of color receptors (red, green, blue). The southern hawker has up to 10 times more color channels, plus UV vision. Her world must be an overwhelming explosion of color: hundreds of nuanced greens, glowing UV patterns on flowers and wings, a sky in shades we can never see. Pure, hypersaturated splendor.

Just green! 💚 Natures colors with some new shots here as a collage. 🌱

You won’t believe what the eye of a tiny lacewing looks like at 50× magnification – an iridescent gem straight out of a sci-fi movie! Thousands of tiny facets (ommatidia) create this shimmering mosaic that gives the insect nearly 360° vision. Pure nature color magic thanks to light interference.

I‘m sure you‘ll find a friend among the colored, the green or the fluffy moth caterpillars 🐛 #caterpillars

Cicindela hybrida, tiger beetle. In the first picture you can see a highly magnified spot of the frontleg. This beetle is one of the fastest beetles in the world. This beetle can run 120 times their own body length in a single second. To put that in human terms, we would have to run as fast as an airplane, around 1,000 kilometers per hour.

🇬🇧No, not a candy 🍭The proboscis of a bat hawk moth (Hyles vespertilio). A moth from the family of hawk-moth’s (Sphingidae). 🇩🇪Nein, keine Süßigkeit 🍭Der Rüssel eines Fledermausschwärmers (Hyles vespertilio). Ein Nachtfalter aus der Familie der Schwärmer (Sphingidae).

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.