The empty, discarded shell of a dog day cicada clinging to my fence. I'd been reading recently about using the camera flash to fill in details in macro shots, and the bug leftovers were a very patient subject. The background washed out, but who cares? The point of interest turned out nicely.

I've always been rather fascinated with ecdysis. It seems like it would be a delicious sensation, to peel off a dirty, cramped old shell and emerge completely new and fresh.

Here's a nifty animation of a cicada emerging from its shell: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:C.....animated-2.gif