Garden Species 28th July

Great to see a second Silver-washed Fritillary in the garden this year though near the end of its flying time (their breeding area is over a mile away. Other favourites are the one-legged Dark Bush Cricket, the two Speckled Bush Crickets and the Spiders with their prey (ID sheet at end)

Unexpected Find in the Garden

Photographed this ladybird during my morning patrol of the garden presuming it was a rather small 7-spot but when I downloaded the photo, it is clearly a different species, which I had no idea existed! - the Adonis' Ladybird, Hippodamia variegata - much smaller than the 7-spot and with different thorax markings.  Also surprised to find that two of the leaf bugs were new species for the garden - genus Nysius with species names using their host plants (see ID sheet at end).

Further Wet Insects etc from RSPB Sandy

Second selection from our visit to a very wet RSPB Sandy including a Red Ant, Marsh Damselfly, Ichneumon Wasp  and two different Wasp Spiders in their water droplet-laden webs.

Wet Insects at RSPB Sandy

We hoped for a fine sunny day to photograph solitary bees, dragonflies and butterflies in RSPB Sandy's grounds but had light rain most of the day. However, we found plenty of interesting subjects  covered with rain droplets, including this Common Wasp, Hairy Shieldbug and Green-eyed Flowerbee sleeping attached to a twig by its mandible.

Insects Photographed with Full-Spectrum Camera

A normal camera has filters that remove ultraviolet and infrared light and adjusts the spectrum to the human visible light. I have a  cheap Panasonic camera where the filters have been removed so you can photograph the full spectrum. The images if not adjusted in software are shades of red as that end  of the spectrum is dominant. However, by setting the white balance of  black or white areas to be neutral gives insects that are close to their original colour but the foliage is very light and the flowers/seed heads may be a different hue from what the eye sees. The subdued colours and the softness gives a new dimension to my garden friends.