Thanks. I did fire the flash, an external one that had a white reflector on it and was pointed 90 degrees away. Even though we had a very bright day, I needed this at f/18 to maintain a very low ISO. This was also hand held, and away from my body, as you don't want these guys crawling up your shoe to your leg, and biting you - very painful. The flash helped a lot with the sharpness.
Dear Jim, this rightfully belongs in eligible...this is really finely rendered! Sharp and clear are not easy in macro...this beats my stuff....also, to me at least, very interesting. BTW, what was your lighting? natural? On board flash, or external flash? Traveller