Every day, a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger.

This great green bush-cricket nymph (Tettigonia viridissima; 🇩🇪 Grünes Heupferd), will live up to its name later this summer, but there's quite some growth to go yet – the antennae are leading the way.

Am not sure if it's possible to tell the sex at this point – anyone know?

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

"There were three of us in the marriage, so it was a bit crowded." 🪲🪲🪲

The UK doesn't have lèse-majesté rules, AFAIK, & besides, these are beetles – a trio of rose chafers (Cetonia aurata; Goldglänzender Rosenkäfer) at it in the garden on this warm, sunny day 🌞

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

The mantra of the modern world, as every movement you make, every action you take, & every creative thought you have is turned into grist for the billionaires & their populist politician puppets to monetise, propagandise, & enshittify:

“Ask not what the corporation can do for you – ask what you can do for the corporation.”

With apologies to John F Kennedy.

/cc @pluralistic

<sound on>

Something rather different for me, a black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius; 🇩🇪 Schwarzspecht) searching for food in the forest around @mpi_astro atop the Königstuhl. With only slight hints of a red crest, I suspect it's a female.

The video is horribly compressed, as the woodpecker was high above me & I had the phone set to maximum zoom. But the pecking sounds are nice & you can also hear the bits of bark hitting the forest floor.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#BirdsOfMastodon 🐦‍⬛

Bonus from the Königstuhl this evening: a pair of hawthorn flies (Bibio marci, Markusfliege) doing what's needed to make baby hawthorn flies.

The larger-eyed male is on the left, the female on the right. And they were completely unperturbed by the voyeuristic camera shoved in their faces.

At least, so I like to think 😬✌️

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

And here's one from home earlier today. I only managed a few quick pictures, but was sure it was a common drone fly (Eristalis tenax), of which we get a lot.

But iNaturalist insists that it's a yellow-haired sun fly (Myathropa florea; 🇩🇪 Totenkopfschwebfliege) – I'll need better pictures of the yellow-striped thorax to confirm that.

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