Is it a beetle or is it a fly? 🧐

Hard to tell from a distance, but close up, it becomes obvious that Camarota curvipennis (Krummflügelige Halmfliege in 🇩🇪) is a fly, but one that wraps its wings around its bum in order to deceive.

Tiny little fellows, just 2-3mm in size, so hard to get super-crisp photos, at least handheld with my gear. But you get the idea 🙂👍

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
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Today's lunchtime haul from the garden – mixed sun & cloud, a little colder than yesterday, but still some nice finds 🙂👍

First, something new – a brief glimpse of the backside of this wood cricket nymph (Nemobius sylvestris; Waldgrille in 🇩🇪) before it hopped off into the undergrowth.

They're a flightless species in the family Trigonidiidae 🦗

#Heidelberg 🏰
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#BugOfTheDay 🐞
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#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

Spring is very much upon us.

First up today, a new one for me: a planthopper nymph, Issus coleoptratus (Echte Käferzikade in 🇩🇪).

Nymphs of this species were the first insects found to have working gears – they're at the base of the hind legs & keep things in sync when they jump ⚙️

They lose them though when they moult into adults 🤷‍♂️

#Heidelberg 🏰
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Flies are difficult 😱

A rather dark & gloomy early afternoon, with few beasties out in the garden.

This small fly was an exception, calmly pottering around on a leaf while I got close with my lens.

Photographing it was one thing; identifying it is another. Possibly in genus Leucophora, but they're notoriously hard to differentiate.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲