All about Insects 2020

Hi Wendy, thanks for getting this one started, I thought I'd done it!!

Your critter looks like a beetle type, maybe a Devils Coach-horse? I thought also of silver-fish, but it's probably bigger than that, difficult to gauge it's size apart from the food bowl!

Shame it's not better res H!

Btw, did a search & no other 2020 insect thread!

I think I would have guessed at one of the predatory beetles, too.
Not seen many insects yet, just a few solitary flies during the warmer bouts of sunshine. The first Hawthorns and Cherries are blossoming though so it shouldn't be long.

Had a huge bluebottle in sink last night off the hoggie dish I was washing, went for a soapy swim! Wild cherries been blooming for couple of weeks here but trashed by the 'inclement' weather! Blast you Ciara/Dennis/Jorge!!

Just for a change, a sound recording from a couple of weeks ago. It was at dusk, really loud & quite scary until I worked out what was going on. It sounded like it was transmitting from our bird-feeder pole in the middle of the lawn.

It's not its normal call which is more like this

According to our local expert it was just warming up on the first recording, maybe first one of the year & hadn't quite got it right. It's a Southern Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa vineae).

How fascinating, thanks H!

Hazel C said:

It sounded like it was transmitting from our bird-feeder pole in the middle of the lawn.

It is actually morse code for "Help, this bird-feeder pole is a lot colder than I thought it was going to be."

Doh! Forgot to add the photo

One of the Drones - an unidentified hoverfly from the Eristalini family (but possibly the Tapered Drone Fly)

It's amazing the volume of sound that insects can produce. It's going to have to warm a lot before we hear any grasshopper or cricket sounds
I remember being on holiday in Paxos, Greece and there was some sort of tree cricket that kept going day and night which drove us mad