They say that the best camera is the one you have with you, so here are some best (😉) pictures of beasties on concrete atop the Königstuhl taken this sunny spring lunchtime with my phone 🤷♂️
First up, a very small spider, likely a juvenile zebra jumping spider (Salticus scenicus).
#Heidelberg 🏰
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Staying with spiders for a moment, this is very likely a wolf spider in the family Lycosidae.
But being more specific than that, e.g. identifying it as a thin-legged wolf spider (genus Pardosa) or even at the species level as the spotted wolf spider (P. amentata), say, is tricky 🤨
YMMV 🤷♂️
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#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
And moving on to things that fly, this is, umm, a cluster fly (genus Pollenia).
Again, a little tricky to be more specific as they all look fairly similar, but it might be the common cluster fly (P. rudis) or perhaps a vagabond cluster fly (P. vagabunda).
#Heidelberg 🏰
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#BugOfTheDay 🐞
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#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
And finally something perhaps a bit easier to identify, both because of the markings & the name – this is a March dagger moth (Diurnea fagella), which peak strongly in, err, March.
Also known as the March tubic, in German it's the Buchenmotte or Sängerin.
Very likely a male, as females have much shorter wings & don't fly.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
Mark McCaughrean
LakeRNistired