It's cold outside, so despite occasional sunshine, most of the garden beasties are in hiding 🥶
So here's one keeping warm by being inside: it's a long-tailed silverfish (Ctenolepisma longicaudatum; Papierfischen in 🇩🇪) 🥈🐡
Despite the suggestion of many legs, there are just six, & this is an insect.
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And to add a little drama to your day, this harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis; Asiatischer Marienkäfer in 🇩🇪) would like a word ... 😱
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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 🙂👍
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Now something that's definitely not new – a male Helina evecta fly. Decent pictures though.
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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 🦗
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And finally, a couple of adults.
First, a mottled shield bug (Rhaphigaster nebulosa; Gartenwanze in 🇩🇪), more yellow-green than the grey one I saw recently.
Second, a harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis, Asiatischer Marienkäfer). They're extremely variable & this is a heavily-spotted, oranger variation, but as ever, the M-shape on the head is the giveaway.
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Second, some better pictures of the nymph stage of Penthimia nigra (Mönchszikade in 🇩🇪), a leafhopper that turns a dramatic black & red as an adult.
I was happy to be able to get sharper pictures, including the eyes.
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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 🤷♂️
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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.
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Mark McCaughrean
ForestOrca