Show Us Your Bugs

[Nat]

Crab spider. They hide and ambush their prey.....they can change their color to blend in with their background.

Can you see me now? by N. Overholt, on Flickr

[Geoff F]

Certainly a weevil of some form, Mark, and you look to be in the right area; but several similar options.

In the UK, Nat, that spider would be Misumena vatia. Do you get the same species over there?

Sawflies are often found sitting around or feeding from flowers but there is another side to them and they will take other flies.



Tenthredo mesomela feeding on an Athalia sawfly.

Pipiza are much more docile hoverflies which only feed from flowers.



Have a look at these two bumblebees. I had to take what I could so they aren't perfect images.





In reality, neither of them is a bumblebee; they are different forms of a hoverfly which is a bumblebee mimic. Volucella bombylans.

[marlunn]

good shots Geoff, love the mimics, this on ehas me stumped started off with Ancistrocerus then went to Odynerus and then gave up really - would have liked to get a few more shots but it was not playing fair !

[Geoff F]

Ah, yes, Mark, that certainly looks interesting.

Seems more like a 'mason' than a 'digger' to me. Odynerus spinipes does seem possible.

The ultimate book for identification of these wasps is Solitary Wasps by Peter Yeo and Sarah Corbet; but difficult/impossible to fully follow from a photo. It really needs an actual specimen and some magnification; or as an alternative some really detailed shots from a dead specimen.

[marlunn]

yep and a front view if nothing else would have helped a bit ah well, I will send it to local wildlife trust - its their reserve it was on and they can see if they have any records for the site that match - ish

[Nat]

I think mine is the Crab Spider Genus Thomisus Family Thomisidae, but I'm no expert.
You are too modest, your bumble bees look pretty darn good to my eye!
Nice one, Mark!

[marlunn]

Ah, yes, Mark, that certainly looks interesting.

Seems more like a 'mason' than a 'digger' to me. Odynerus spinipes does seem possible.

I suspect that you are on the money with that ID Geoff - thanks

[Ziggy]

[Geoff F]

I see your Scorpion Flies are slightly different to those which we get in the UK, Jim.

You have kept the highlights nicely under control.

[Geoff F]

Started seeing the first of the Skipper Butterflies but they weren't keen on posing for photos so this is the best of several attempts.



I always like the way grasshoppers hide behind a stem but peep around to keep an eye on you; and as you move around so do they, always keeping the stem between them and you.

[killwilly]

One from my garden.

IMG_3698 by [url=h

[marlunn]

We had to be up in Lincoln on Monday, local reserve Whisby had my attention for the day as my lady was with her mother scattering her fathers ashes, its been a few years and her mum decided she was ready for this final stage.

Anyway, It was a blood family occasion so I went for a walk at the reserve, I recalled a particular beetle there from a previous year and hoped to repeat the sighting of it. A Longhorn beetle, Agapanthea villosoviridescens, described in my book as 'Rare in Britain'.

I got luck in the last 10 mins of a 4 hr ramble around the site - not that it co-operated once I saw it but hey not too unhappy with the shots

D7100 - Sigma 150mm, F8, 1/250th, ISO 500 +0.7ev - hand held, natural light, surrounded by stinging nettles !

[Ziggy]

Some really nice shots being posted by all. The Longhorn beetle is cool Mark.

[marlunn]

One more from the day - Rhogogaster viridis, a Sawfly they are about 10-15mm ish

D7100, Sigma150mm, f3.8, 1/250th, ISO320, +0.7ev, hand held, natural light.

[marlunn]

cheers Jim, I was really hoping to see one so well chuffed to get a shot just before I had to go.

[marlunn]

Sometimes, quite often in fact, I find the best shot for identification purposes isn't the most pleasing nor the most technically perfect of a series.

I'm hoping that a better experienced person, possibly on another site, can give me confirmation or correction for identification of this beetle.



I'm thinking about Cantharis livida but it doesn't quite fit perfectly. So is this a bit of natural variation or have I got it wrong?

Geoff, did you get a positive ID on this, I have one and was also going on Cantharis livida unless you get a better offer

[Geoff F]

I think I left it as a possible identification, Mark.

It was missing a clear dark mark on the head but this can be faint. The other alternatives are C. cryptica which has the hind tibia red not black and C. pallida which is virtually the same.

The Mike Hackson keys should work with most Cantharis.

[JBW]

if you are what you eat Froggy is a bug?

[Geoff F]

Close enough for me, Brian.

Went looking for the uncommon Silver-studded Blue butterflies but all I found were Common Blues; and even those were reluctant to pose for a portrait.



Found some Crickets or Coneheads but they wouldn't stay still either.





Current thinking is probably nymphs of Great Green Bush Cricket.

[Ziggy]

Nice series Geoff. We have had so much rain lately I think all our bugs have drowned.