Post your insects

[Letrow]

This one was accepted into a local DC gallery exhibit !

It does look beautiful Joelle.
Did you go to All Sizes in Flickr, then do right click and Copy Image Location? If you paste that it should work.

[Letrow]

A bumblebee, moving fast from flower to flower. Bombus hortorum as far as I can make out.

[Letrow]

Not sure about this little bug



but it does look nice

[Geoff F]

That is a Weevil, Peter. Look at it's distinctive long snout and unusual antennae.

I suspect one of the Phyllobius family. They do vary considerably in colour and lose a little of their lustre as they age - don't we all.

There are several sub species which can be difficult to fully identify without close examination of an actual specimen.

You have certainly managed a good colour on the flower without any over exposed patches. Which so often happens to me with these bright yellow tints.

[Letrow]

That is a Weevil, Peter. Look at it's distinctive long snout and unusual antennae.

I suspect one of the Phyllobius family. They do vary considerably in colour and lose a little of their lustre as they age - don't we all.

There are several sub species which can be difficult to fully identify without close examination of an actual specimen.

You have certainly managed a good colour on the flower without any over exposed patches. Which so often happens to me with these bright yellow tints.

I love the colours on this beetle. We would call it a snoutbeetle or something like that. That would be a weevil indeed. I had no idea and thought that weevils were much smaller.

[Letrow]

My favourite insect



Mr Bumblebee

[Geoff F]

Parasitised Nomada Bee.



Being an insect can be tough. This family of bees lays eggs in the nests of other bees where their larvae kill the original inhabitants and feed from their intended food.

But this female has itself been parasitised by another species, possibly one of the Ichneumon wasps. Check the growth on the side of it's thorax and less developed larvae between the wing bases.

I'm still checking for an exact identification but these are a tricky family.

Incidentally, I previously mentioned about painting around over exposed areas. In this case, the flower had several badly exposed areas so I quickly did a little 'paint job'. I didn't spend a lot of time or care though, because this shot is far from perfect in other ways.

But I just though it was an interesting scene.

[Letrow]

She does look weird Geoff, great catch. So, how is the behaviour of this bee? Does she still fly around or is she under the influence of what is eating her?

[Geoff F]

Seemed to fly reasonably well, Peter. I just managed 2 quick shots.

And a recent update.

The bee is Nomada lathburiana and the problem is caused by an extreme infestation of beetle larvae.

One interesting beetle species which uses a similar trick to get it's larvae into bee nests, where they develop safely is the Oil Beetle, so called because it will release a strong smelling oily fluid if threatened.



The views needed for a certain identification are clearly illustrated here. The rear edge of the segment between the head and body is straight, not curved. And underneath that the wing covers join to form a very slight notch between them. The alternative species has a much bigger notch.

[Geoff F]

And another strange looking little beetle.



Paederus littoralis.

It kept running around on some leaves so was tricky to correctly focus. And it soon disappeared underneath the leaves.

[Letrow]

Great detail Geoff.

We are just having a lot of news (articles) about the future of food. Insects may play a bigger role in that it seems. At the moment we seem to be eating about a pound of insect a year, hidden away in various foods as animal proteins.
But as soon as insects become recognizable most people seem to shy away from tasting it.

I would struggle as well I have to admit. Shrimps are fine, but beetles? Anyway, your identification skills might come in handy in a few years time. Just like other people know their mushrooms, you will know what is eatable and what is not.

[Letrow]

Bee on dandelion. I liked the amount of pollen he carried on his back.

[Geoff F]

Yes Peter, they get their heads down and bury themselves deep into a dandelion head. When they return to the surface they are almost unrecognisable beneath the pollen layer.

[Letrow]

Yes Peter, they get their heads down and bury themselves deep into a dandelion head. When they return to the surface they are almost unrecognisable beneath the pollen layer.

They do indeed!



Nice, I can imagine now where the expression drunk on nectar comes from.

[Letrow]

A few more of the ladybird





Seven spots!

[Geoff F]

Only seven spots, Peter.

Tell you what; I'll double your offer - then add ten!



Any advance on 24?

These little 24 spot ladybirds are quite a bit smaller than the seven spots, and a bit darker in colour.

They tend to hide away in the foliage so I always struggle to photograph them. Shooting through a little gap between the leaves, with flash, usually creates awkward angles.

And something else which I always find difficult - A Drinker



The black gold and white mixture presents exposure problems, and although these hairy Drinker Moth caterpillars look good in normal three dimensional sight they seem, to me, to appear somewhat 'flat' in a two dimensional photo.

I have tried to get an angle which gives it a little bit of 'depth' but I'm not totally happy with the shot. Perhaps I needed to move around by about 45 degrees to get a better line on it's head and let the tail go out of focus. But that wasn't possible; I was already wedged into the hedge with this angle.

[Letrow]

And something else which I always find difficult - A Drinker



The black gold and white mixture presents exposure problems, and although these hairy Drinker Moth caterpillars look good in normal three dimensional sight they seem, to me, to appear somewhat 'flat' in a two dimensional photo.

I have tried to get an angle which gives it a little bit of 'depth' but I'm not totally happy with the shot. Perhaps I needed to move around by about 45 degrees to get a better line on it's head and let the tail go out of focus. But that wasn't possible; I was already wedged into the hedge with this angle.

The hair gives it a bit of depth at least and the detail is good, but you might be right: shooting from up front may work better.

[Letrow]

Difficult to pinpoint this syrphidae. My best guess is one of the darker cheilosia.
It really was as dark as it is on the photo.

[Geoff F]

I would start, Peter, by looking at Platycheirus albimanus female. That's the easiest answer and they are quite common at this time of the year.

We really need to see the face in profile to consider Cheilosia; and it's a brave man who goes down the Cheilosia road.

You may find this discussion on a UK wildlife site interesting, with regard to that family. http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...y-if-poss.html

And I was recently caught out by a melanic Melanstoma, even though I had the melanic hoverfly ID key!

[Letrow]

You could well be right Geoff, looks very much like it. I started with the Cheilosia and saw one or two that looked like this insect.
Unfortunately, when I enquired about the profile photo, she looked annoyed and moved away.