Post your insects

[orlcam88]

I got around 5 of these guys building giant webs. I wish they had come sooner to get rid of the mosquitoes!

[orlcam88]

some more spiders. I saw this one had caught an insect and was wrapping it up but I didn't have my camera on me. So I ran upstairs to get my camera. By the time I came back, he left his web and hid. This is what I found.


This one is another of the same


Unfortunately today there's no more spiders. All of the webs are gone! My only guess is with the rain, it destroyed the webs. There were about 5 of them around the house.

[Geoff F]

Spiders can 'recycle their webs', by eating them, if there is a change in circumstances like rain/wind which causes them to hide amongst the foliage.

Rather looks like one of the Araneus species; or a close relative.

This is one of the Colletes species of bees. But they are tricky to fully identify, although Colletes fodiens is known to favour Ragwort, like this plant.

[orlcam88]

Thanks Geoff.

Found this guy while taking bird pictures. He's a very tiny guy barely noticeable if it wasn't for the reflection the web gave off.

[Letrow]

syrphidae

[Geoff F]

Possibly another of those Eristalis females, Peter. A nice balance of light and dark elements.

And another from that general family, also feeding on a flower.



Helophilus trivittatus female on a thistle.

[Nat]

Now this is SHARP and he is standing on those hind legs, looks so human like and funny! Great detail...wonderful color. Good work.

Possibly another of those Eristalis females, Peter. A nice balance of light and dark elements.

And another from that general family, also feeding on a flower.



Helophilus trivittatus female on a thistle.

[Diane]

This dragonfly was grooming the face area on the wall. the wings are so amazing to see all the structure & design.Picture is in my album. Still struggling with uploading on posts.:(
diane

[Franci]

A rainy day in the Italian Alps ....

[Franci]

"Blowing in the wind"

[Franci]

I liked the way it was holding on the flower!

[Franci]

A nice bug

[Geoff F]

Diane. If you are still struggling with uploading, have a read of this HELP THREAD: How can I post images here?

Franci. Good sharp shots with plenty of fine detail.

Those Eristalis tenax, female, in your first image seem to be everywhere at the moment. I suspect #3 is one of the Tachinidae family but it has lost it's wing tip.

Not sure about the shieldbug #4. Looks a bit like a Parent bug (Elasmucha grisea) but not an exact match. Probably another species which we don't find in the UK.

[Letrow]

Possibly another of those Eristalis females, Peter. A nice balance of light and dark elements.

And another from that general family, also feeding on a flower.



Helophilus trivittatus female on a thistle.

Quite elegant hind legs I have to say. And I like the colours as well.

[Letrow]

I liked the way it was holding on the flower!

Nice and hairy Franci, great detail

[katsrcool]

Butterfly gathering nectar by katsrcool, on Flickr

Closeup using Canon T3i and Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS lens.

[Geoff F]

The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) is common in Europe and the bright mixture of black with red and white splashes on the wings is very noticeable.

But once they fold their wings and get amongst the undergrowth they are more difficult to see.



Having a good feed of ripe blackberries. A bit of a struggle to photograph as the bramble bush was on a steep incline and I couldn't push closer in case I disturbed the butterfly. It meant tipping the tripod onto just two legs to shoot through a gap in the foliage.

And talking about butterflies being hard to see.



Somewhere in there is a Speckled Wood butterfly with it's wings folded. The shot is looking straight down on top of it.

[Letrow]

Two syrphidae shots





I forget what the flower is, might be a sort of carrot.

[Geoff F]

I suspect the flower is one of the umbellifer family, Peter. Cow Parsley, Hedge Parsley, Hogweed, etc although Wild Carrot is similar. And the 'inhabitant' looks like Eristalis pertinax male.

Today's bug hunt started with crossing a tidal stream at the head of a creek but I was a little early so while waiting for the crossing stones to uncover I had a look around some marshy grassland and discovered a group of Short-winged Coneheads (Conocephalus dorsalis).



This female can be identified by the slightly upturned tail which is straighter in similar species..

Coneheads are always an inquisitive bunch but like to watch by peering round from the shelter of a suitable leaf so it took a few attempts to catch them in the open. And, of course, the leaf was moving in the breeze.

[ktuli]