Show Us Your Bugs

[Geoff F]

Rather looks like some sort of bug larvae, Brian.

[Ziggy]

Current one from me. Can't go super close with the P&S so I try and catch the tiny ones in a nice environment. The crab spider is sitting on a tiny plant called Fleabane.

[Geoff F]

The Fleabane here is just a few inches high at the moment and nowhere near to flowering but the Fleabane Tortoise Beetle larvae have just appeared on some leaves.



You can just make out the well camouflaged little grub once you spot its eye. It also hides under a mix of old dead skin and excrement which forms around the other end!

There are also quite a few adult beetles around. These are survivors from the past mild winter.



The sub adults are green but gradually turn dark orange to deep red when fully mature.

Another first for me is this rather blue Lacewing.



Probably Chrysopa perla although it is very blue and the head markings don't exactly match my book. It was fluttering around with a rather weak flight looking like a powder blue lump of fluff.

[Geoff F]

Outside my door this morning was a 'nursery' of newly emerged Araneus diadematus spiderlings.



The first one to 'leave home' is just a few mm long



By the time I returned in the afternoon they had all dispersed.

I'm just starting to see the first Wasp Beetles of the year. They may look threatening but are harmless and the first one actually landed on my hand so I had to carefully place it on the ground for a photo..

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Not nearly as pretty as some of the other photos here, but, it is a bug.

[Geoff F]

Beetles and bugs have their place in the overall wildlife mix, Alan. In reality, I often find them to be harder to photograph, and identify, than many of the more colourful species.

I'm making use of a few cloudy days to gradually catch up on editing and identification; plus entering up the details to create usable records.

Blue-tailed Damselflies are generally regarded as a common species but they are actually rather scarce around here.



This one is eating a small moth; and a Large Red Damselfly doing the same thing.



Possibly one of these little moths which are everywhere, particularly on buttercups.



And talking of little things, a rather young Meadow Grasshopper nymph in its pastel colouration.

[James G]

Hi Geoff, I've been seeing those little moths in buttercups up here too...

I was out this evening, (the weather is set to change) and captured these two shots... was quite pleased because it has been pretty windy this last week....

#1 Wood Gnat (Chironomidae maybe?)


#2 Wood Gnat


#3 Stretch Spider in thistle (a)


#4 Stretch Spider in thistle (b)



And from a few days back....

#5 Green Nettle Weevil....I wasn't looking for them particularly since I've photographed them earlier this month. This little guy decided to land/fall onto the back of my hand so....


#6 Green Nettle Weevil negotiating the hairs on the back of my wrist.... must be quite young, because hasn't lost many of it's scales.


#7 Ant... best I've managed this season...

[Ziggy]

Well done Alan and James.

Jim

[John Gunning]

Interesting thread.

Here's a photo of a light-blue soldier crab, Mictyris longicarpus, it is a species of crab found on sandy beaches from the Bay of Bengal to Australia; with other members of the genus Mictyris, it is "one of the most loved crabs in Australia". Wikipedia.

[IzzieK]

Does this crab belong to the bug family? Just curious...well, b is bug, c is for crab...it'll pass... ... I think...

Very nice clear shot and subtly coloured too. Seems like there are more behind him...are they edible???

Interesting thread.

Here's a photo of a light-blue soldier crab, Mictyris longicarpus, it is a species of crab found on sandy beaches from the Bay of Bengal to Australia; with other members of the genus Mictyris, it is "one of the most loved crabs in Australia". Wikipedia.

[Geoff F]

Yes, I don't think we need to be too strict here; after all, we do allow spiders to join the bug club!

James, Part of the Chironomidae identification concerns whether the abdomen is banded or unbanded and I'm not totally sure from that camera angle; but it looks to be a plain abdomen.

So I seem to end up with Chaoborus crystallinus male.

Mike Hackson has produced some simplified keys which are more user friendly than many alternatives but at the moment I can only find my Chaoborus version. Somewhere I do have more information.

Incidentally, there are Mike Hackson keys for quite a wide range of insect species now if you search around for them.

You are doing well with the Phyllobius photos, I usually seem to end up with some over exposed areas from those reflective surfaces.

[IzzieK]

All nice shots but I like the two green ones...especially the first green...it is more shiny-er. Your first two wood gnats have a very nice head dress. If they have colours in them it will be nicer...

Hi Geoff, I've been seeing those little moths in buttercups up here too...

I was out this evening, (the weather is set to change) and captured these two shots... was quite pleased because it has been pretty windy this last week....

#1 Wood Gnat (Chironomidae maybe?)


#2 Wood Gnat


#3 Stretch Spider in thistle (a)


#4 Stretch Spider in thistle (b)



And from a few days back....

#5 Green Nettle Weevil....I wasn't looking for them particularly since I've photographed them earlier this month. This little guy decided to land/fall onto the back of my hand so....


#6 Green Nettle Weevil negotiating the hairs on the back of my wrist.... must be quite young, because hasn't lost many of it's scales.


#7 Ant... best I've managed this season...

[JBW]

I know a caterpillar is not a bug and it is already posted under my own name but it is a great and colourful caterpillar that is about 6 inches long and as thick as an average mans thumb. PS the colours are as close as I can get them to what I saw.

[Geoff F]

That, Brian, looks like a monster from one of those horror movies of the 1950's and 60's.

There are several types of sawflies around at the moment. For example Strongylogaster multifasciata which lays eggs in the tips of bracken ferns.



And a Tenthredo mesomela



We don't seem to be getting many moths posted. So here is a tiny Longhorn Moth of some type. Tricky characters to fully identify but the males have these extraordinary long antennae



They are daylight flying moths while others like this Yellow-barred Brindle hide during the day and try to merge into the background.

[DanK]

All very good, but the sawfly image is exceptional

[marlunn]

been absent - work is not fun it really gets in the way, but anyway, a jumping spider - nowhere near up to Daves standards but hand held with no flash

Thank you Geoff for the Tenthredo mesomela ID - I got one of them and was about to start hunting down the name

I believe it is a Evarcha falcata

Nikon D7100 - Sigma 150mm macro, F7.1, 1/500th Iso 640 +1ev

[Geoff F]

Yes, 'jumpers' are wonderful cuddly little spiders.

I have been attempting to catch up on editing and identifying some craneflies.

Tipula luna.



And Tipula maxima the biggest UK cranefly. I had been trying to photograph these for several days but they kept getting amongst foliage so I couldn't find a clear shot. Then when I was resting in the shade for a bit of lunch and a review of previous shots this one flew in and landed beside me. Still a bit of a tricky angle and it was in shade. I didn't want to use flash in case the light variation caused a wing twitch problem. But I did take some OK with flash later although I lost a bit of wing texture that way.

[marlunn]

wow two great shots of craneflys and both have all their legs

oh wait nope one has a missing leg - natural order is rerstored

[Ziggy]

Nice catch of the spider Mark.

[Geoff F]

After a good day for new species this year I'm getting behind with editing and identification again. But here are a few quick shots which were chosen chiefly because I had identification problems with some of them and have had to send photos to a wildlife site.

Boat Bugs - Enoplops scapha possibly



A fritillary. Probably a Dark Green Fritillary but they were flitting around on the clifftop and I never managed a photo of the undersides. In fact I really struggled to get any keepers at all.



The first Robber Fly of the year (Dioctria rufipes); this one wouldn't cooperate either and kept moving around so I struggled to keep up and get any focused shots.



And a Speckled Bush Cricket.