Out in the yard to capture some zinnias in the fading light, I noticed this
guy in a backyard puddle after the mid-afternoon sprinkler cycle finished.

The temperature was around 60 and it would sit motionless for several minutes each time I touched it.

Perhaps it is ready to pupate where it will survive the winter until the scarab emerges in May or June.

Or perhaps it is starved and drowning after I used roundup to kill foot-diameter areas of nutgrass, then replanted.

A Raynox 2.5X snap-on was used in front of the lens at 92mm to get this close. The tripod pillar
was mounted sideways and the legs were flattened and extended to precisely adjust the distance.

The setup is here: http://www.pbase.com/ssprengel/image/86855526

"He's dead, Jim."