Adjunct scientist, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg / Former Senior Advisor for Science & Exploration at the European Space Agency / JWST Science Working Group Interdisciplinary Scientist / Co-founder Space Rocks / New worlds ahead / Opinions very much own
Now living in a hilly part of Germany & very much missing regular cycling with the wide horizons & big skies of The Netherlands 😢🚴♂️
| Personal website | http://www.markmccaughrean.net |
| Space Rocks | http://www.spacerocksofficial.com |
| 111 Places in Space book | https://emons-verlag.de/p/111-places-in-space-that-you-must-not-miss-7517 |
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Spring appears to have been postponed here in southern Germany 😬✌️
A rumble of thunder was followed by this sudden downpour of hail, heralding several days of cold weather thanks to an Arctic blast sweeping down from the collapsed polar vortex 🌩️🌨️
Temperature drops of 15-20°C & fresh snow forecast for many places across Europe 🥶
Fingers crossed it doesn’t completely screw up the many flora & fauna that have emerged in our garden in the past fortnight 🤞
Always worth a last visit to the garden before the sun sets over the opposite side of the valley, just in case someone's enjoying the final warmth 🌞
Today that was one of the big beasts – a female European nursery web spider (Pisaura mirabilis; Listspinne in 🇩🇪).
When it bored of being photo'd, it excreted two large clear blue-green droplets & disappeared 🤷♂️
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#ArachnidsOfMastodon 🕷️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
And to add a little drama to your day, this harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis; Asiatischer Marienkäfer in 🇩🇪) would like a word ... 😱
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
Bonus garden beastie.
This small spider was hanging around in the ivy – it looked a lot lighter coloured to the eye, but the macro brings out the brown speckled markings.
It's very likely a running crab spider, genus Philodromus. Best guess is P. albidus or P. rufus, two rather similar species.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#ArachnidsOfMastodon 🕷️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
And something rather aesthetically pleasing, a common garden friend – the white-lipped or garden banded snail (Cepaea hortensis).
It has not one but three German names: Garten-Bänderschnecke, Garten-Schnirkelschnecke, or Weißmündige Bänderschnecke. Take your pick 🇩🇪
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#MolluscsOfMastodon 🐌
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
Now something that's definitely not new – a male Helina evecta fly. Decent pictures though.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
Next, a small spider with a rather orange abdomen, at least to my eye. It flashed across the red concrete steps, so I didn't get a great shot before it disappeared.
But it looks like a wolf spider (genus Lycosidae) & my best guess comparing to pictures on iNaturalist is a ground wolf spider (Trochosa terricola; Erdwolfspinne in 🇩🇪).
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#ArachnidsOfMastodon 🕷️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
Mark McCaughrean