Portraits of nature's creepy crawlies revealed: Stunning macro images reveal faces of jumping spiders, soldier flies, moths

It's easy to forget that bugs have faces - complete with eyes, a mouth and, if not a nose, a pair of large antennae.

But now a wildlife photographer has captured extreme close-ups of creepy crawlies - revealing the complex compound eyes of flies, the triangular profile of a praying mantis and a moth during metamorphosis among others, according to the Daily Mail.

Many of the images have been lit in such a way they resemble mind tricks, optical illusions and even ink blots.

The images were shot by 33-year-old Yudy Sauw at his home studio in Tangerang, Indonesia.

He used a photography technique known as focus stacking, also known as focus blending, which combines multiple shots of the same subject, taken at different focal distances.

Sauw was able to capture the extreme close-ups by placing his camera 4-inches away, but other shots were captured at up to 20-inches distance.

Each image took around ten minutes and involved Sauw keeping calm and still so not to disturb the insects.

Sauw said: 'All of the photographs were taken in my studio in Indonesia. All of the insects had to be incredibly still for the process to work.

Among his collection were a pair of owlflies, which Sauw captured facing each other to resemble an ink blot. Owlflies are dragonfly-like insects with large eyes. They are distant relatives of flies, dragonflies and damselflies and typically grow up to 2-inches (5cm) long.
Wasps, such as the ones captured in Sauw's collection, do not reproduce during mating flights, like bees.

Instead they reproduce between a fertile queen and either a single, or multiple male wasps. After successfully mating, the male's sperm cells are stored in a tightly packed ball inside the queen until they are needed.

Meanwhile, the adult solider fly, photographed by Sauw, grows up to 0.6 inches (1.6cm) and only lives up to eight days. Its colour and size mimics the appearance of the organ pipe mud dauber wasp, this is enhanced by the fly's elongated, wasp-like antennae.

In addition to insects, Sauw also shot alien-looking images of praying mantises.

The head consists of a rounded triangle with eyes that take up almost three quarters of the creature's face. It is the only insect that can swivel its head over its shoulder, over 300°, which gives the mantis a distinct advantage when looking for prey.

In one image, which resembles a human face, Sauw also captured the front of a longhorn beetle. Several species are pests and the larvae often bores into wood, where they can cause damage to trees and structures. A number of species mimic ants, bees, and wasps.

By taking images over a series of weeks, Sauw was also able to capture a moth going through metamorphosis.

For the most part, moths are nocturnal and they fly and feed at night. Butterflies and moths pupate, or become adults, differently. Both go through their metamorphosis in a chrysalis, but moths will often spin a silk cocoon around this protective shell, sometimes camouflaging it with leaves or debris.

Although the majority of Sauw's images focus on flying insects, he also photographs metallic jumping spiders.

These spiders have been known to jump from 10 to 50 times their own body length by increasing the blood pressure in their legs. Their large eyes have strong stereoscopic vision to help them stalk prey and communicate with the opposite sex.

To capture many of the images, Sauw's photos were taken by gradually changing the distance of the subject.

This involved moving the camera, rather than than subject. Individual photos are then aligned so their content is overlaid pixel-by-pixel to create the effect.