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
I can recognise the green one as Praying Mantis TJ, is the grey one some kind of stick insect?
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Are they Harlequin ladybirds HinNH?
WendyBartter said:is the grey one some kind of stick insect?
Yes, Wendy, a stick insect but I don't know the the species.
Here's a Shield Bug, probably a Carpocoris but again I don't know the precise species. Could be mediterraneus but I'm out of my depth - help.
____________________________________________________________________
Tony
My Flickr Photostream
Bet I`m further out of my depth than you,TJ. Go on - Put you copy of `Esquire` down & get stuck in. :-)
http://molbiol.ru/forums/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=48289
Good old british plant bugs - Not a bit of bother,TJ
I had a great bit of luck as I happened to be in the garden at just the right time to see this big beastie heading down the garden path tonight. At an impressive 2 and a bit inches in length (and travelling at a very disconcerting speed), this is the larva of a Great Diving Beetle. This is the first one I've seen out of the water although Mrs A spotted the discarded skin (exuviae?) of another one a few days ago. The larva was heading towards the side of the garden which is frequented by lawnmowers so I put a bit of kitchen roll on the ground in front of it, and once it hurtled onto it, I moved it to a safer place at the ‘pond side of the garden. It is seemingly not advisable to handle them with bare hands as they can give quite a nasty bite if they feel so inclined.!! It was last seen disappearing under a large clump of buttercups in my 'wild' bit. I believe that they shed their skin and then burrow into the soil before pupating and emerging a few weeks later to re-enter the pond as adult Great Diving Beetles. I’m so pleased about this as the pond is only in its second year, and to see these types of creatures making a home in my garden makes all the hard work of building the pond worthwhile.
Great Diving Beetle larva (Dytiscus marginalis).
My bird photos HERE
Big & impressive PA & a wee bit frightening!!!
A rufous coloured grasshopper from the stony desert of La Crau
and a vicious looking fly
Wendy, Yes I think they were Harlequins judging by the white heads, I hadn't really looked at them that much, I was just suprised to see so many in one spot.
Paul, Well done on the Great Diving Beetle, presumably this answered our confusion over how long they spend in the water.
TJ, You need Rockwolf for your Shield bug, but it's a lovely colour, good to see your holiday bugs.
A lovely photo from Edge of his plant bugs. I thought of you today when I was out walking & saw a mass of bindweed flowers, & had a look for Plume moths, but didn't see any!
Hazel C said:TJ, You need Rockwolf for your Shield bug, but it's a lovely colour, good to see your holiday bugs.
Yes, Rockwolf seems to have deserted us. The Forum is getting moribund sadly and we are losing a lot of our best members..
Not insects but a few arachnids if I may.
A Wasp Spider - quite a few of these about
It's cousin Argiope Lobata - formidable
I think this is some sort of Crab Spider but she was a big girl not like the tiny ones you see over here.
and an unknown species eating a Banded Demoiselle