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
You do hear them in the evenings & it's the best way of distinguishing them. This is the common one http://www.faune-charente-maritime.org/index.php?m_id=54&mid=6279 (click the arrow) & the more rare one http://www.faune-charente-maritime.org/index.php?m_id=54&mid=10233 (warning it's a bit noisy).
Hi, not much around at the moment, but THIS report came up on the French forum that I look at. It's all in English (Butterfly conservation) & I thought the bit about Scarce Tortoiseshell really interesting. I've never heard of it!
Happy reading!
I've been doing my moths traps off & on all winter & a couple of weeks ago this Great Diving Beetle turned up.
I measured it at around 4cm long
It had really decorative antennae
A real beauty!
An impressive looking beastie. Interesting that it turned up in a moth trap. Would it have been flying from one water body to another?
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
what a fantastic close up of the G-d-Beetle, love those antennae, very fancy !
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Regards, Hazel
Hi TJ, I think so, one turned up in our newly dug pond many years ago (in another house) so they must fly around at night looking for pastures new. I think I had one last year too in the trap but didn't take photos.
Thanks Hazy, I thought they were it's best feature!!
I saw these last weekend, they kept flying up & landing again together one above the other, must have been twins.
& this little skinny fly is a nonbiting midge (Chironomidae) seen out on the marshes, I wish they were all like that, I've had 2 bites already this month!
Our broad beans are covered in hover-flies, but I've not been out there with the camera, & Ron brought in this little caterpillar that had just eaten through the stalk of his newly planted lettuce. Ooops. It's a member of the Hepialidae family of moths (Swift moths) & I had to pop him in the neighbours garden "swiftly" to stop Ron exacting his revenge!
Any one else got some bugs?
had to go to page 4 or 5 to catch up with this lovely additon to your thread Hazel, so glad i didn't miss it. Great to see the two Peacock butterflies looking so colourful. Don't have any butterflies here that I can see but did have a few bumble-bees enjoying the crocus pollen !
Now the LG postings are getting frenetic, posts are disappearing so fast. It's good you've restarted this thread, Hazel, and we look forward to seeing some exotic insects from the Gironde area.
Not a lot stirring here except large Bumble bees but on a warm(ish) sunny day a couple of days ago I did see a Brimstone butterfly flying manically across the garden.
Nowt here yet H bar a couple of buzzy flies & mozzies!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr