Mini Garden Invertebrates

An interest in invertebrates can be a serious impediment to any gardening activity. I started to cut down some of the dead plants in the garden but decided to shake them to dislodge any creatures before putting in the green waste bins - a mistake as an hour later I was still photogaphing the abundant spider, snail and other mini-life - some 10 species of spiders alone!!

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

Sawflies, Ichneumons and Others from the Garden

Another batch from the garden last Friday when the wet conditions gave way to a really hot humid day that the insects found to their liking. Lots of different Sawflies and Ichneumons - most not able to identify from photo but will go in the garden database as photos with suggested family etc. The one with the very long ovipositor was very impressive - about 1 cm total size. The rain had brought out slugs and snails

Paxton Safari

A very pleasant morning spent at Paxton with Jo yesterday seeing what was lurking in the vegetation and, as usual, the number of insects was outstanding including this Musk Beetle, Banded Demoiselles, Migrant Hawkers, Common and Ruddy Darters, Brown Chinamark Moth (only moth where larvae are completely aquatic), numerous fly species and Wasps but also a Grass  Snake and White-lipped Snail. The images were taken with two extremes of focal length for 'macro' - 23mm with Supplementary lens (eg beetle) and 450mm telephoto (demoiselle etc!).