Insects in the Autumn Garden

Although the night-time temperatures dipped to near freezing the last two days, the sun has been warm and yesterday I recorded a large number of active insects including these very small Weevils on the hollyhocks, one of which appeared to be egg laying.

Lackford Lakes at 30 Degrees

Like us the only insect life active at Lackford yesterday tended to be lurking in the shade and hence difficult to get quality photos but enjoyed the day hunting.

Garden Insects etc as 'Autumn' Starts

Most of my rose bushes, especially the wild dog rose shoots, are full of Sawfly larvae now able to thrive as the various tits and other small birds have fledged. Here two different species. Yesterday was a mix of sun and showers gradually getting warmer throughout the day - ideal for insect hunting and for cleaning mouthparts as this Rhingia campestris shows - amazing how it can fold that back into the rostrum. Still trying to get that 'perfect' flower spider image

Latest Batch of Garden Insects

I am still on a quest to record all the insects in my garden - sometimes interesting (!) photos of familiar species like these mating Sphaerophoria scripta and some new species like the bug Dicyphus epilobii.

Welney RPS Nature Group Visit

We were surprised at how few insects there were at Welney - hopefully it was the cool showery weather that had driven them deeper into the foliage. I did enjoy photographing this Speckled Bush Cricket (didn't notice the Spider!), two species of Leaf  Hopper, a Picture-Winged Fly, Hoverfly, Nettle Leaf Beetle and an Ichneumon spp. The Reed Warbler was probably a young one as very confiding and very pristine plumage.