Also seen today – this spider making its home on a head of dandelion seeds.

It's likely a female common crab spider (Xysticus cristatus; 🇩🇪 Braune Krabbenspinne), but things may be a bit trickier – that's one species in a complex of the same name that also includes X. lanio & X. kochi.

So which *exactly* may remain a mystery ...

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#ArachnidsOfMastodon 🕷️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

Warm, sunny, garden madness 😱

Loads of arthropods out today, many new, & for every one I managed to get a decent picture of, there were three others flitting around too madly to catch. Later ...

So, first – a sloe bug (Dolycoris baccarum, 🇩🇪 Beerenwanze).

These are common here, so expect to see more pictures, including of their kids 😉

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

A reminder that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) carries more than a petawatt, one million power stations worth of warmth from the tropics to Europe.

If it shuts down, as appears increasingly likely even in this century, northern Europe will suffer intense cold in winter, deep drought in summer, & far more extreme weather overall.

You might think “nice, it’ll offset global warming.”

You’d be wrong – it’ll be utterly catastrophic for the region.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/15/critical-atlantic-current-significantly-more-likely-to-collapse-than-thought

Not a new species this year, but always fun to see – this is a female harvestman (Platybunus pinetorum, 🇩🇪 Waldgroßauge) on a concrete wall at @mpi_astro this afternoon.

While harvestmen are arachnids, they're not spiders: they're in the order Opiliones. Other non-spider arachnid orders include scorpions, ticks, mites, & vinegaroons.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#ArachnidsOfMastodon 🕷️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

My namesake insect 🤩

This is a hawthorn fly (Bibio marci), the Märzfliege or Markusfliege in 🇩🇪.

Also known as St Mark’s fly, because it typically emerges around the saint’s day of 25 April.

Of course, this one is a female, but hey 🤷‍♂️🤪

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