Insects 2016 part 2

[Geoff F]

I hadn't seen any Ruby Tails at these locations before, and found the first one last year. Not exactly rare but in reality they can be hard to find.

Tried some Ensign Flies yesterday but ended up ditching all of them.

A lot of showers today so not doing anything outside, where wet bumblebees keep trying to dry off and warm up. Haven't seen much moths for a few nights either.

A Scorched Carpet was the first this year.



Initially thought this was an Ichneumon but I'm now thinking a sawfly possibly Calameuta filiformis



I really struggled to get a common Eristalis arbustorum from the correct angle for a definite identification. No face stripe.



Those shiny little Dolichopus species are something which always causes me trouble. Poecilobothus nobilitus. Perhaps I can get some more before the end of their season.



Not sure about the identity of this tiny juvenile Planthopper but I thought it looked as though it was made from plastic.

[rudi]

A little snipefly, Chrysopilus asiliformis:
1: a male


2: a female

[IzzieK]

How did you know the difference between a male and a female? I clicked and compared in lytebox and apart from the colour, nothing much changed, so the vividness of colour on the male specie might be just your processing. Enlighten me...

[James G]

Hi Izzie,
Geoff is much more qualified than me to answer, but...the sexes of Snipe flies like Hoverflies ,can be distinguished by looking at the head. The eyes are round in both sexes, but in the case of the male they almost meet at the top of the head. Females have a relatively wide separation. I believe this is true for most "true" flies.

Additionally, there are usually differences in the shape of the last segment of the abdomen which is where the insects genitalia are.
It can however be quite difficult with many species of insect to see the structure of the last segment in order to be sure of the sex.

Geoff actually posted an image, #10 on page 3 of this thread, which shows two snipe flies mating. The difference in the positioning of the eyes can be seen a bit more easily.

[Geoff F]

But beware, Izzie, of a few species where both males and females have a gap between their eyes. Usually there are still obvious differences between the eye positions but you have to look carefully. The hoverfly Helophilus group are like this.

Today started looking hopeful weatherwise, so I risked putting my washing on the line and driving 30 minutes to a wood which I frequently visit. Stayed overcast for most of the day but still managed a few interesting species.

Fleabane Tortoise Beetle - Cassida murraea



Yellow and Black Longhorn Beetle - Rutpela maculata



An Ichneumon Wasp (unidentified but could be a Heteropelma)



Stopped to sit on a pile of logs for a snack when I noticed something crawling through the undergrowth. It turned out to be a Large Yellow Underwing Moth.



Later in the day, my flash unit started playing up and only shooting at full power so I had to either keep varying my Iso or shoot without flash which meant increasing the Iso to 800 which was causing a bit of 'noise' and still risked too slow a shutter speed in the cloudy conditions.

When I got home I consulted the book and eventually reset everything to default settings where normality was restored. Not sure exactly what had gone wrong though. Possibly I accidentally set up a Custom Function.

[rudi]

How did you know the difference between a male and a female? I clicked and compared in lytebox and apart from the colour, nothing much changed, so the vividness of colour on the male specie might be just your processing. Enlighten me...

Good that James and Geoff are a lot quicker than I am . Thanks both for answering !!

As for the colour: the male is indeed a bit more vivid, and in this particular image 'enhanced' by the flash. PP was very basic: WB correction, levels adjust, a little curves, resized & sharpened.

Just as a comparison the same picture as above:
1: with flash


2: without flash

[Geoff F]

It has rained all day today and the forecast for tomorrow isn't much better so I have been catching up on editing and identification.

As a result, here are a few insects which may be of some interest.

Alder Spittlebug (going by that pale stripe across the wing). One of the froghoppers which leave that frothy substance on plants to hide their larvae.



Garden Chafer. I tried quite a few angles and different insects before I could find a suitable angle.



And a quick shot of a spiky fly. Could it be Epicampocera succincta? I'm not very good with the Tachinidae and a few other similar families.

[IzzieK]

I kinda like the with flash version even though both looks good. The background of #2 is more smoother.

Good that James and Geoff are a lot quicker than I am . Thanks both for answering !!

As for the colour: the male is indeed a bit more vivid, and in this particular image 'enhanced' by the flash. PP was very basic: WB correction, levels adjust, a little curves, resized & sharpened.

Just as a comparison the same picture as above:
1: with flash


2: without flash

[Cantab]

Geoff, I've never seen a bristly fly like the tachinidae family (genus?) but with a bit of googling discovered that there are species of them on the west coast of North America. So I'll keep my eyes open. Apparently they help control garden parasites.

[Geoff F]

Yes, Bruce, their larvae live as parasites inside a wide range of other species. But although some help to control pests others attack the caterpillars of those attractive butterflies, etc. so something of a mixed result with them. This sort of thing happens a lot with various insects and somehow the groups seem to survive even if a few of them don't manage to live long enough to reach breeding status.

[rudi]

Two flies at rest in the morning.
The big brown (8-13 mm long) is Sicus ferrugineus. Their larvae are endoparasities on bumblebees.
From the little black fly, I have no name...

[James G]

Garden Chafer. I tried quite a few angles and different insects before I could find a suitable angle.

Geoff, I hope that Chafer was not in your garden . My brother is a fanatical gardener and had his lawn ruined by Chafer bugs a few years back!

[James G]

Started to catch up again...

#1 Wasp Beetle, Clytus arietus


#2 Speckled Bush Cricket nymph, Leptophyes punctatissima


#3 Slender-Striped Robber Fly, Leptogaster guttiventris.... not the best capture


#4 Shadow stretch-spider,Tetragnatha montana


#5 Sawfly, not sure but Tenthredo sp maybe?


#6 Same Sawfly as #5 foraging deeply in the buttercup


#7 Midge, Chironomus riparius

[Cantab]

James, I was intrigued by your first photo, yet another bug pretending to be a wasp!

[James G]

#1 Rhopalid Bug, Rhopalus subrafus


#2 Latticed Heath Moth, Chiasmia clathrata


#3 Larch Ladybird, Aphidecta obliterata
]

#4 Larch Ladybird, Aphidecta obliterata


#5 Larch Ladybird, Aphidecta obliterata


#6 Ichneumon Wasp, Amblyteles armatorius


#7 Foraging Ant... Saw this ant struggling backto nest with this grub....


#8 Dance Fly, Empis Stercorea


#9 Common Pond Skater, Gerris lacustris


#10 Common Green Grasshopper Nymph, Omocestus viridulus

[James G]

Hovers.....

#1 Hoverfly male, Anasimyia contracta


#2 Hoverfly male, Anasimyia contracta


#3 Hoverfly, Chrysotoxum sp possibly cautum?


#4 Hoverfly, Chrysotoxum sp another view


#5 Hoverfly female, Portevinia maculata



#5 Hoverfly, Volucella bombylans


#6 Episyrphus balteatus

[Geoff F]

Geoff, I hope that Chafer was not in your garden . My brother is a fanatical gardener and had his lawn ruined by Chafer bugs a few years back!

They will need strong teeth! A few years ago I got rid of all grass for a paved area and permanent shrubs etc with chipping topping. And the other side is a vegetable garden.

I wonder if your sawfly is Tenthredo arcuata?

[Geoff F]

A few items of interest today; and some still to identify.

This 'upside down' moth initially had me confused. A Vestal Moth.



I think this mating pair of Empis is probably E. tessellata. The female is eating another species of fly.



Just starting to see a few harvestmen. This one is Platybunus triangularis

[James G]

#1 Bee, Andrea sp, Foraging in Buttercup


#2 Birch Catkin bug, Kleidocerys resedae, preying on ladybird nymph


#3 Black Snipe Fly male, Chrysopilus cristatus


#4 Broad Centurian female- Chloromyia formosa


#5 Broad Centurian female- Chloromyia formosa


#6 Broad Centurian female- Chloromyia formosa


#7 Capsid Bug, Grypocoris Stysi


#8 Capsid Bug, Grypocoris Stysi


#9 Cluster fly male, Pollenia rudis

[James G]

I've not been able to identify the group below.... any ideas appreciated

#1 Beetle Nymph


#2 Micro moth


#3 ???


#4 Ichnuemon wasp maybe?