Window mode follows your eyes with your camera, in this browser only: no picture or position leaves your device.
Close-up view of a bioluminescent beetle Elateroidea
Taken on 2 September 2019 01:54:22
- Classification
- Photograph
- Museum
- Wikimedia Commons
- Rights
- CC BY 4.0, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Kids profiles and older: it shows nature, places, still life or a children's book. How works are placed
About this work
Close-up view of a bioluminescent beetle Elateroidea (Lampyridae Ototretinae Stenocladius or Rhagophthalmidae), on a leaf. This specimen measures about 20 mm (0.79 in). The species produces and emits light, via a chemical reaction during which chemical energy is converted into light energy. The principal chemical reaction in bioluminescence involves some light-emitting molecule and an enzyme, generally called the luciferin and the luciferase, respectively. Oxidation of organic compounds induces photon emission. The intensity of this light can be perceived by the human eye in a radius of 2 m (6.6 ft). This is a long-exposure photograph (1.3 s) made with a tripod and a macro lens, in the middle of the night (2 am). In conditions of ambient darkness, the adjustment of the manual focus is difficult, and the camera settings (ISO and depth of field) should be done according to the mobility of the living organism, which may lead to motion blurs. At any time, the insect can also decrease the intensity or even completely stop emitting its light (example here). A soft and diffuse auxiliary lamp has been brought to reveal the details of the animal. Bioluminescent beetle species are in…
