Test shots: Stylurus plagiatus exuvia

A Russet-tipped Clubtail (Stylurus plagiatus) exuvia was collected by Joe and Loren Johnston on 20 June 2018 from Aquia Creek in Stafford County, Virginia USA.

Notice that abdominal segment nine (S9) is elongated, strongly suggesting this individual is a member of the genus Stylurus. The large dorsal hook of abdominal segment nine (S9) that overhangs segment 10 (S10) is a key marker for southern specimens of plagiatus.

Russet-tipped Clubtail (Stylurus plagiatus) | exuvia (dorsal)

The “working distance” for the 11mm Fujifilm extension tube/Fujinon 80mm macro lens combo, that is, the distance from the front of the lens barrel to the subject, is long enough to be able to use the lens hood.

Hotspots from external flash units, technically known as specular highlights, are more noticeable sometimes when the flash heads are closer to the subject. It appears the lens hood may have reduced that problem; more experimentation is required to be sure.

Russet-tipped Clubtail (Stylurus plagiatus) | exuvia (ventral)

Related Resource: Stylurus plagiatus exuvia, a photo-illustrated identification guide.

The Backstory

Joe Johnston is an avid boater and sport fisherman. On 20 June 2018, Joe and his brother Loren were fishing together on Aquia Creek in Stafford County, Virginia USA.

Fish require food and shelter. Sometimes fish shelter near trees that have fallen into water, or the wooden pilings of boat docks. Joe and Loren were casting artificial fishing lures toward one of several docks that extend far into Aquia Creek, when Loren’s lure snagged on one of the pilings. When Joe moved his boat alongside the piling in order to retrieve the fishing lure, Loren noticed an odonate exuvia on the side of the piling. Joe and Loren kindly collected several exuviae, including this one, and shared them with me. Thanks, gentlemen!

Tech Tips

The following equipment was used to shoot both of the macro photographs featured in this post: Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera; Fujifilm MCEX-11 extension tube; and Fujinon XF80mm macro lens plus lens hood. The camera was set for both manual exposure and manual focus. That’s right, a switch on the camera body is used to set the type of focus. It’s a Fujifilm thing. Actually, back-button focus was used to autofocus the image and adjusted manually as necessary. That’s also a Fujifilm thing. Camera settings: focal length 80mm (120mm, 35mm equivalent); f/16; 1/500s.

A Godox XProF radio flash trigger, mounted on the hotshoe of my X-T1, was used to control a pair of off-camera Godox TT685 Thinklite TTL Flashes (TT685F and TT685C) set for radio slave mode. Each flash was fitted with a snap-on plastic diffuser.

Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 was used to spot-heal and sharpen both images.

Copyright © 2018 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Tags: Aquia Creek, exuvia, Family Gomphidae (Clubtails), gear talk, high-speed sync, Russet-tipped Clubtail dragonfly, Stafford County, studio photography, Stylurus plagiatus, Virginia