Oh well, no sooner said than done. All you budding entomologists or photographers or anyone who likes nature, you can put your insect photos here!
I'll kick off with a few that I've had lately. This first is called a Mantis Fly & is a cross between a Fly & Mantis (funnily enough) & is in the Neuroptera family, which is a mixed bunch anyway, my first & I had 3 of them around the moth trap
& a Rhinocerus Beetle which was also attracted to the light & are quite rare now around here, he really was fabulous, very impressive,
& this Frelon was also in the moth trap, but seemed quite docile as long as I kept my distance!
& some Damsel flies, an Azure Damselfly (thanks for the ID Aiki)
a Large Red Damsel
& from early may a proper fly from the Dipteras, anyone know the English name, I think it's latin name is Otites lamed,
I usually only take photos of flies with interesting wings as I am hopeless at identiying them!
Thanks for looking & maybe you can post some of yours!!
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
Over at Loch Leven today there were literally Squillions of these wee fellows all round the Lochside. The clouds of them were unbelievable and walkers/joggers/cyclist were going around with masks made from scarves/handkerchiefs etc. I think they are some sort of Chironomus (non biting midges) and I personally found the whole thing to be a wonderful experience. Everyone I spoke to seemed to think that it was horrendous, and I did get a strange look from a few cyclists as I stood with my arms spread wide with a big daft smile on my face.!! I wish I’d had the macro lens with me, or at least a lens that could have captured the whole spectacle. The entire population in the whole of the Loch must have all hatched at the same time. Just fantastic.!! The photo doesn’t really do them justice, showing only a minuscule amount of them on a bench.
My bird photos HERE
Bet the birds had a field day!!!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
WendyBartter said:Bet the birds had a field day!!!
Strangely the Swallows and Martins didn't seem to be overly interested in the flies, the Ducks were eating them from the surface of the water though.
I think this may be a Wood Ant.
What great detail PA even down to the hairy derriere! Lol
Didn't know before that ducks ate flying thingies!!
WendyBartter said:Didn't know before that ducks ate flying thingies!!
Yup, here's a male Garganey (which was a nice surprise) scooping them up.!!
Great pic PA & fascinating reading about the 'fuzzy-bills', just as well the ducks eat a few as the midges are depositing their egg masses of 3,000 at a time ... short life & never a decent meal passes their lips, what an existence!!!
Had a nice little female companion while gardening this week. A (F) Yellow Tip, I normally see these chaps zip thro' without stopping!
I know this isn't an insect but here it is anyway.
Zebra Spider -Salticus scenicus-
They creep up on their prey before leaping in for the attack. I've seen them doing this in the garden and they do actually leap a considerable distance for their size. I just love the eyes; you can almost feel them burning into you. If you were afraid of spiders you could just imagine it leaping into your mouth or ear when you're sleeping.!! :-)