More Small Invertebrates

Pruning the Buddleias yesterday took a very long time as each branch needed to be beaten to dislodge any insects etc, some of which I photographed and most of which were minute like this exquisite Leafhopper and the Rough Woodlouse. The Spider and Centipede were dislodged from our low brick wall while tidying the ivy - wonderful brick coloration!

Life in Miniature in the Garden

I decided last week to do a bit of sweep netting on the cut meadow and margins to see what lives at ground level. Before I started the sweep my eye was taken by this very small Pond Olive with spectacular eyes, a relative of the Mayfly. The Leaf Hopper is a miniature version of the Common Leafhopper

Bugs Alive in the Garden

Half an hour in the garden yesterday produced a good number of bugs (Order Hemiptera). Here photos of  two plant hoppers - the common meadow Leaf hopper and a Lacebug and among the plant bugs Orthops basalis (2 views), Heterogaster urticae, Heterotoma planicornis, Plagiognathus arbustorum (3 views) and Closterotomus norwegicus.

 

Bugs, Beetles and Hoppers at Lakenheath

 It was overcast and quite cool at the start of our RPS visit to Lakenheath though it did warm up in the late afternoon. There were lots of different insects and spiders to find, photograph and identify though not in the usual large numbers there. Here is a selection of Hemiptera, Coleoptera and Orthoptera (Pentastoma rufipes Forest bug; Picromerus bidens Spiked Bug; Coreus marginatus Dock Bug; Lygus pratensis; Hetercercus fenestratus; Oulema melanopus Cereal leaf beetle; Blepharida rhois Leaf beetle; Anthocomus rufus flower beetle; Philaenus spumarius X 2 Meadow leaf hopper ;  Conocephalus fuscus Long-winged Conehead; Tetrix subulata SlenderGround Hopper)

Extreme Macro in the Garden

I spend a short time each morning recording what is in the garden and at the moment I am also trying to gather more images for a project on arthropod eyes. I was using an 80mm macro lens with 2 times converter which will can give 2:1 magnification at closest point though this then needs a ring flash to get enough light on the subject. Here a selection of 'eyes' and also some very small plant bugs (insect less than 3mm and uncropped so approaching 1:1 magnification)