Post your insects

[Letrow]

Right after the bumblebee I think this is my favourite insect





Glad to see those ladybirds emerging once more.

[Franci]

Beautiful images Geoff!

I only have an adventurous ladybird, found a few days ago. We have had so much snow last winter, patches will stay for long

[neilmac]

Took me a long time to catch this wee feller!



The next group is of a Hummingbird Hawk moth that suddenly appeared at our balcony (apologies for the quality - my first attempt at this kind of photography )

[Franci]

Great images Peter and Nat. Finally butterflies are coming back here too

[Letrow]

Nice captures Neil. That moth looks pretty interesting and I don't think that we get him here in the Netherlands.
And Franci, I am envious of your butterfly. I have seen a few, but they moved to fast for me so far.

[Geoff F]

Nice captures Neil. That moth looks pretty interesting and I don't think that we get him here in the Netherlands.
And Franci, I am envious of your butterfly. I have seen a few, but they moved to fast for me so far.

You should get a variety of hawkmoths where you live, Peter. The Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum) is widespread across the UK although not common. I usually see one or two each year.

They appear to be spread across Europe and many that we get appear to be European migrants.

Often overlooked though as they hover, like a large hoverfly, with very quick wing beats so they don't seem to behave like typical moths. Mostly a daylight moth.

Actually shooting flight photos, as Neil has achieved, is very difficult. I have only ever successfully photographed them when stationary.

Butterflies are starting to appear now, but yes, most of them are quickly flitting around instead of posing for photographs.

[Letrow]

and from a slightly different angle



syrphidae

[Geoff F]

Episyrphus balteatus female, Peter.

Normally an early season species but I haven't seen one yet this year. Another grey windy cold and damp day today!

[Geoff F]

Tried at a saltmarsh site today and managed a couple of new species for me.

Eristalinus sepulchralis. Same family as the common Drone Flies (Eristalis species) but unusually marked eyes.



And a really tiny ladybird. About half the size of the common 7 spot ladybirds.

16 spot ladybird.



To give an idea of size, it is on a dandilion.

It was moving around while the flower was waving in a fresh wind, so focusing was a bit of a gamble.

[Letrow]

Those spotted eyes on the eristalinus, is that common for the sort Geoff?



Not a syrphidae, but I am not sure what it is. Same kind of eyes as the conopidae.

[Geoff F]

That fly rather looks like a Myopa species, Peter. They have more white space below the eyes than the Sicus species.

There are some Conopidae keys by Van Veen but they need just the right angles to enable a definite identification.

I've been struggling through various ID keys recently while attempting to sort through my photos of the past few days.

Those Eristalinus eyes are a bit variable between individuals; but the spotting on their eyes is one of the easier identification features.

There are two almost identical UK species. This one has faint stripes on the thorax and hair on the lower half of its eyes. Both of which are missing in the other species.

A few butterflies are getting around now but they are flitting about without posing for photographs.

I think this is the same species as Francesca's recent posting.



A Green-veined White, which is quite well hidden amongst those Lady's Smock flowers.

[Shibang]

Some butterflies from yesterday.

These were taken at the Artis in Amsterdam.

Regards,

Gary


20130520-DSC_4910-Edit-2 by g.lang, on Flickr



20130520-DSC_4889-Edit-2 by g.lang, on Flickr


20130520-DSC_4877-Edit-2 by g.lang, on Flickr

[xiaomingli]

Wow, great

[Letrow]

Great shots Gary, especially that last one. Interesting to see all that detail.

[Geoff F]

More Green-veined whites. A mating pair this time.



And an unusual beetle.



One of the 'Tortoise Beetles' which keep their heads and legs mostly under the protective shell. Cassida vibex I expect.

It was hiding in the lower vegetation so I had to shoot through a 'hole' in the foliage which just gave me a quick shot without any choice of angles.

[Brownbear]

Gary and Geoff.. Beautiful inspiring photos.. Thank you for sharing.

[gregj1763]

Well thats what I was doing. Put a first coat on the roof and had to wait a couple of hours for it to dry.
Fortunately I took my camera along today so spent my time waiting well I think.
You call them Yellow Jackets?, I have another name for them ever since a few of them gave me a touch up when I was a kid
Anyway this is the best I could come up with today.


Sony A99, Tamron 90mm, iso 200, f5, 1/1000

[Franci]

Gary: #3 is beautiful
Greg: not a bad day, after all!
Geoff: I love the bug!

[Geoff F]

Not really so scary as it looks.



A different angle on a Speckled wood butterfly.

Saw a group of these tiny male Adela species moths 'dancing' in the sunshine as they flitted around looking for females.



The wings which are only around 10 or 12 mm across glisten in the sunshine. Gold, purple and black; but very difficult to photograph well. The best chance is in light shade, but too sunny for any real success this time.

And they never sit still, always on the go. They rest just long enough for me to nearly focus, and up in the air again.

The males have ridiculously long antennae. Over twice as long as what is visible here.

[Franci]

The first shot is great, Geoff!