This image is of an unidentified species of diptera (midge) larva, possibly a non-biting diptera midge. The image is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/focus_stacking" class="extiw" title="w:focus stacking">focus stacked</a> panorama captured in darkfield + compensated polarized light microscopy. In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/plane_polarized" class="extiw" title="w:plane polarized">plane polarized</a> light, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birefringence" class="extiw" title="w:Birefringence">birefringent</a> muscle tissues within the body of the creature appear to glow in varying colours that depend on the fiber density and their orientations with respect to the optical axis of the microscope. The colors are derived from the insertion of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/waveplate" class="extiw" title="w:waveplate">waveplate</a> in the optical path of the microscope.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:KarlGaff&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" class="new" title="User:KarlGaff (page does not exist)">KarlGaff</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://artofsciencephotography.com">Art of Science Photography</a>
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<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>