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Towlersonsafari

mating common blue Damselflis at our local nature reserve

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Towlersonsafari

I am amazed at the depth of my ignorance about insects, but it is fun trying to work out what some of them are. Here is a dark bush cricket- (Pholidoptera griseoaptera) I think, only about 2 cm longĀ  and a Red-and Black froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata)

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Towlersonsafari

And a scorpion fly- but i am not sure which one!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Towlersonsafari

this is another hoverfly volucella pellucens

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Towlersonsafari

and a male banded demoiselle,(calopteryx virgo) and another pair of mating common blue damselflies, i think

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Towlersonsafari

during A quick walk at lunch in the first test round our local nature reserve we came across what i think is a Ruddy Darter- black legs and reddish eyes distinct waist to the abdomen- and a female Beatiful Demoiselle

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Edited by Towlersonsafari
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Like @TowlersonsafariI am enjoying the view through a macro lens and the challenge of identifying a myriad of different species. Last week I was able to watch a kill in the insect world as a labyrinth spider caught a small wasp - probably Pimpla rufipes although it could have beenĀ Apechthis compunctor as the males are apparently indistiguishable!

Ā 

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Ā 

Nikon D850, Sigma 150mm macro, f/20, 1/25sec, ISO4500.

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Peter Connan

Great sighting and excellent image!

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Towlersonsafari

lovely spider photo @pomkiwi- it is fun just noticing insects etc, and then as you say trying to work out what they are! i have been using the olympus omd e1 mk 111 ( i wish they would shorten the name) and a second hand 300 f4 pro300 most of the time as I am rubbish at sneaking up on them! here are a couple of hoverfliesthe first i think is Helophilus pendulus and the second Chrysotoxum festivum a very smart wasp mimic

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Edited by Towlersonsafari
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Towlersonsafari

as for flies- I think this is a member of the greenbottle family

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Towlersonsafari

and a jolly red Tailed bumble bee( Bombus Lapidarius)-a Queen i think as it was enormous and a Field grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)

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Towlersonsafari

on a recent visit to the New forest and Dorset we did come across some "new to us " insects a Heath sand Wasp Ammophila pubescens, on a heath as it happens-a hunter of caterpillars to lay its eggs in

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Towlersonsafari

Either a Dor beetle of a Common Dumble Dor- apparently you have to look at its undersides to tell- we did not think we knew it well enough to take the liberty-so a member of the Geotrupes family that eats dung

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Towlersonsafari

And whilst at RSPB Arne- a beautiful reserve- and apologes for the bad photo- a Raft spider Dolomedes fimbriatus - not the even bigger one found in Norfolk

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  • 8 months later...
Towlersonsafari

Whilst looking for black hairstreak butterflies and generally wandering about we came across quite a few of what I think is a sawfly- a primative member of the hymeoptera family (bees ants wasps) it looks like a wasp bu without the waist and I think this one is the common green tenthredo- Tenthredo mesomela nad it looks like one of them is munching on somethig

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Towlersonsafari

And I also present the Drake Mackerel MayflyĀ  Ephemera vulgataĀ  (why is it called that?) seen at summer leys

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Towlersonsafari

my first ever-well knowingly-Willow emerald Damselfly (Chalcolestes viridis)Ā  likes perching or clinging to grass/twigs at a 45 degree angle and its wing spots are surrounded by black. according to my field uide it was only seen in the uk for the first time in 1979must be quite recent to

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Towlersonsafari

and a black tailed skimmer (orthetrum cancellatum)Ā  and southern hawker (aeshna cyanea)

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St Andrews Cross spider, Lakefield NP, Queensland

Ā 

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Towlersonsafari

ta very much @TonyQTonyQtrying to photographĀ  them is the best way to try to identify them

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  • 8 months later...
Towlersonsafari

We saw a charmingly coloured crane fly today- apparently it is Tipula lunata

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Towlersonsafari

whilst in the Forest of dean we saw lots of common Dor beetles (Geotrupes stercorarius) a type of dung beetle

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Towlersonsafari

I think this is a Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)

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Towlersonsafari

Some rather spectacular beetles we have seen at Summer leys recently-the Common Malachite Beetle (Malachius bipustulatus) a member of the soft winged flower beetles

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