Today’s post is less about creating great photography and more about the fascinating things you can find while photographing in nature. I’ve titled the two photos in this post Nature’s Circuit Traces and Traces in the Tree. Technically, they’re not actually traces, but I call them that because I think they resemble the electronic traces on printed circuit boards. But what are they really?

These interesting patterns are caused by beetles boring their way through the tree creating what are often called beetle galleries. I’ve no clue what species created these galleries but I find them fascinating. In this particular case it appears something long ago split the bark along the tree revealing these galleries that I assume were once hidden under bark.

Earlier this year another photographer, Steven Schwartzman, shared photos of some beetle galleries he’d found in Texas. It’s interesting to compare the patterns he found with these and see how similar and yet different they are. Granted, they may have been created by different species of beetles.

Steven also shared a link to a great article describing beetle galleries.

Do you enjoy these posts?

Sign up to receive periodic emails with updates and thoughts. Don’t worry, I won’t spam you. And please consider purchasing artwork or products from my online store, and using my affiliate links in the sidebar to the right when shopping online.

I appreciate your support!