Show Us Your Bugs

[marlunn]

Nice shots Geoff, love the moth but the Tortoise Beetle is fab. This is one from today - I was shooting the seedhead when the fly landed on it - but when I looked closer the thing that caught my eye was the light reflections apparent in the shot - I cant explain the shape of them?

[Geoff F]

Looks like you are getting something of a rainbow effect from the reflective wings there. Possibly the shiny black abdomen is also having an effect.

Not sure about the fly identification though. Those little hunchback flies are a real nightmare to me.

[marlunn]

nah, its the light blocks halfway down into the seehead on the left of the fly

I did not even bother to ID it to be honest but I did get this one - Nomada fulvicornis



Not a brilliant shot - would not face me and there was a wall in front of it ! only landed a few times up against the wall and then was off away

[Ziggy]

Some good stuff being posted by all.

I enjoy shooting the little Skippers.

[marlunn]

Nice shot Jim, now thats cute I love skippers ours should be out and about any time now

[Ziggy]

Thanks Mark. I think Skippers always have a proud look sitting on there perch.

They just don't sit for long.

[Geoff F]

The trouble with Nomada, Mark, is that you need to see their faces for an identification. I was surrounded by them today, and I couldn't get the required angle either.

Are you sure about fulvicornis? To me, the tegulae seem dark orange and look more like N. flava/panzeri?

Here are some more of my efforts from a couple of days ago which came out far from perfect; but I thought the subjects were sufficiently interesting to post anyway.

A little 24 spot Ladybird. About half the size of the common 7 spot species.



It kept moving and I couldn't get the required angle. There was one which had a better composition but the head wasn't sharply focused. On reflection, maybe a 4 x 5 ratio and lose a bit from the right side to lessen the out of focus area in the bottom right corner?

And a rather odd looking small hoverfly. Neoascia podagrica. Once again, a lot of shots were rejected to get this one imperfect keeper.

[Ziggy]

Nice shots Geoff.

[marlunn]

Nice Hoverfly Geoff, I think you are correct, must admit a lacking of detail in my ref book on these - it only lists the one and a cross check with local records shows it recorded so did not dig any further

[Geoff F]

There are, or at least were, some keys for Nomada on the BWARS site but:

Test keys, which only work with males and you really need photos of several angles or an actual dead specimen plus some magnification.

For a rather limited number of UK species they can be quite tricky to positively identify.

[DanK]

I've been chasing bumblebees for days, without much luck. Lately, they have been in our wisteria, which seems to drive them nuts--the hover for awhile, then dart around wildly, occasionally smash into each other, and eventually settle in a flower. I noticed after processing them that these two were in almost identical positions, even though they were in different parts of the vine.

The first one required more of a cropping than I would like to admit.

C&C welcome, of course.

There is now so much interest on this site in both macro in general and bugs that I will raise a suggestion I made a few years ago: maybe there should be a macro forum. Just a thought.

[Barbara Ponder]

Just wanted you all to know I am enjoying seeing your work! Keep them coming and as I said before I had no idea bugs were so randy or is it randi?!

[ClaudioG]

Hi all..i havent been for a while but visit once in a while. I really like this thread and got a few pics recently. I am still after all this time trying to get "action" photos and saw and image of the hover fly in air... may i ask how the HELL did you get that Geoff ???????

So here are a few. Not quite happy with the hornet as i wish both it and fly were in focus.

Once again Geoff..im not even gonna attempt trying to identify as im always off

#1


#2


#3


#4 This one is a bit weird..the belly of a spider never looks right..too many limbs....but can you see what i see..do my eyes deceive me or is that ironmans head??!!?!?


#5

[Geoff F]

The flying hoverfly, Claudio, was hovering in a predictable manner close to some plants probably looking for females. So I was able to set up my tripod nearby then kept following him as he flitted between blooms. Obviously he moved faster than I could manually focus most of the time so there were many rejects. I do have another shot of what appears to be the same species but that one is awaiting editing.

Not sure about your first fly, we get rather similar looking species here but I usually ignore them when it comes to identification because there are so many similar species. Good views of the face but wing veins will probably be required as well.

I wonder if #3 with those clubbed antennae might be some form of sawfly?

But no mistaking the little Jumping Spider #5. Probably impossibly to get full identification though.

[Geoff F]

A couple of butterflies. I seem to have been rather neglecting them lately.

Orange Tip male.



Wall Brown



One of those tiny bright golden micro moths which are feeding on so many flowers at this time of the year. Probably one of the Micropterix species.

[ClaudioG]

Awesome images again Geoff...i especially like the ornage tip male. Ive always struggled with butterflies...they dont seem to be still at all. Do you use and sugar water or anything just to attract and keep them there a litlle longer?

[Geoff F]

I have tried several mixtures of insect attractants, Claudio, but thought they all helped at bringing in those very common species but I never found anything interesting that way. Just a slow walk while keeping a good look out seems best for me.

But, and I know it must be 'Murphy's Law' I seem to find that I really struggle to get the first one of a particularly species; then, once I have something recorded, they all appear the next day and shout 'please photography me'!

There is certainly a mix of skill and luck with butterflies and it is one of those cases where a longer lens can help to prevent flyaways. I normally use a 180 mm macro lens for this sort of general insect shots.

[James G]

I've been out a good few times over the last 2 weeks, time I think to post a few more: -

#1 St Marks Fly (Bibio marci), male (a)


#2 St Marks Fly (Bibio marci), male (b)


#3 St Marks Fly (Bibio marci), male (c)


#4 Red and Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata) A bit speculative!


#5 Hairy Shield Bug, aka Sloe Bug (Dolycoris baccarum)


#6 Shield aka Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus)


#7 Large White (Pieris brassicae)


#8 Pond Skaters(Gerridae), & Snails & Tadpoles.... getting close a definite challenge, and processing... one of the most confusing images ever!!


#9 If some one was grabbing my eyeball! ouch!....

[DanK]

Is this some kind of robber fly? Small for one, less than 1 cm. (The squares in the first photo are about 1 mm square.) I found him (her?) on my screen door this morning:



He fell off before I could get a better shot. When I put him on a table and tried to nudge him to move toward me rather than away, he climbed on my hand:



and then did a little dance before leaving:

[JohnRostron]

What a terrific series James. I particularly like the mating flies. They don't stand on ceremony do they.

John