Post your insects

[Flyfisher]

Helloooo

50mm, macro extension tube (36mm) and SB 700 with 20cm softbox

[Franci]

Richard: Very interesting picture. Orlando: beautiful colours! Geoff: amazing as usual

Here my latest bit of luck: early in the morning the butterfly was not eager to move and let me take pictures

[Geoff F]

Interesting real life shot there, Richard.

I also keep nest boxes for bees. Eggs are laid in individual cells within the tube and they are separated by chewed up foliage or mud, depending on the species; and the end of the hole is then capped with foliage or mud.

Is that some form of Fritillary, Francesca? You have managed to deal with a difficult angle very well.

I was struggling with some uncooperative Small Tortoiseshells today, I haven't checked the photos yet but don't think I ended up very well. And the one Dark Green Fritillary never let me get within 10 ft.

Not a lot of interest from today's insects but I did catch a mating pair of Rutpela maculata beetles.

[orlcam88]

I see some truly beautiful macro shots on this forum! Such details.......salivating. Someday I'll get a macro. for now I'll continue shooting 15 feet away with my tele.....

[Richard24]

Richard, an interesting photo. I'd never have thought that bees had the where-with-all to carry anything except pollen. Do you know what they do with the piece of leaf: food? next material?

Thanks Bruce. Leaf-cutter bees are solitary bees, in that they don't swarm or live in a hive. The female makes a nest in a deep hole with the leaves. They pack them tightly into a hole into a cigar shape and then lay an egg, then pack more and lay another egg and then another before sealing the hole. The adult bee then dies. the young then hatch out and eat the leaves over the winter, before pupating and then chewing their way out in the spring. They are non-stinging and one of the best pollinators in the world as the females use the underside of their abdomen to pollinate and they "swim" about in the flowers. They particularly like rose leaves, so if you see circular cut-outs in these leaves then it was a leaf-cutter bee. You can buy nests for them cheaply or make one by drilling into wood and leaving it in your garden. I watched this little one going back and forth for at least an hour in my Mum's garden.

[Franci]

Lovely colours in #2, Orlando. This is my bit of luck for today




A female Syrphus ribesii (if I got it correctly), feeding on a Verbascum nigrum

[Geoff F]

Difficult to accurately identify from that angle, Francesca. Definitely a Syrphus species.

S. ribesii females have an all yellow hind femur. Mostly black for S. vitripennis.

But there are other options, like S. torvus which has hairy eyes, but this can be hard to see in females.

And I think you get a few others which are absent, or uncommon, in the UK.

Best bet is for Syrphus sp. and just enjoy the photos.

[Geoff F]

Insect Olympics - Long Jump

First one to the next leaf!



A couple of male Meadow Grasshoppers, I think. (Chorthippus parallelus).

[jprzybyla]

My wife spotted this a few days ago and we photographed it. I wonder if anyone has any idea what it could be?

[johnbharle]

My wife spotted this a few days ago and we photographed it. I wonder if anyone has any idea what it could be?

Looks like a grasshopper that outgrew its skin.

[Geoff F]

Yes, probably the last moult, so that nymph is now an adult.

[Letrow]

Some very nice photos on this page. Just back from holiday, so enjoying the CIC site once more. Joe's grasshopper is a beauty, but there are more great shots of course. That is one photo though that starts me thinking about possibilities for my Nikon. Extension tube...hmmm.

[Letrow]

A few shots left from before my holiday. I am still working/PP-ing on a few insects I met in France, but they are difficult to identify for me.
Anyway...







syrphidae

[Cantab]

Peter, good sharp wasp/bee photos. I'm going to have another go at some bee photos later today but there not the easiest thing to do!

[Geoff F]

That fly is easy, Peter. Episyrphus balteatus female.

The double black bands make it obvious. Recently on a wildlife site which I use, someone was asking about a similar fly where the abdomen colour was a much paler yellow. But the arrangement of black banding easily produced an identification.

Occasionally, particularly early and late in the year, the abdomen can become quite dark, almost all black sometimes.

In the UK, I found them slow to appear this year, and numbers are still rather low.

I was wondering about the flower in #1. It seems like a Nicandra flower. I grow them but have rarely seen them elsewhere.

[Cantab]

Geoff, thank you for the helpful identification of Peter's syrphidae. I've checked my books on bugs in British Columbia and, yes, there are many species (subspecies?) here. So many of what I thought were wasps in my garden may be syrphidae. I'll look more closely now that I have some idea of the differences between hover/flower flies and wasps.

[Geoff F]

The simple check between flies and wasps/bees is to look at the antennae. Flies have short antennae while wasps/bees have longer segments with an 'elbow joint' between.

There are a few flies with longer antennae but the exceptions are usually obvious.

Some hoverflies in particular are very good mimics of bees and wasps; but there are other fly families and even beetles which use a similar system of mock warning colours.

[Letrow]

Looks very much like a nymphalidae melanargia, but I find it difficult to pinpoint the subspecies further.

[Geoff F]

I think there is only one option for Northern Europe, Peter. Marbled White (Melanargia galathea).

The similar species only occur in Spain, Turkey and a few parts of Southern Italy.

I hear people talking about increased numbers of this species, but I haven't seen one for a couple of years. And that was just a fleeting glimpse.

[VanessaS]

I have other close ups but this is the only little guy that I have taken with my macro lens. This is when I discovered that earwigs have wings - he was on my fourth floor balcony.