Bit of a mystery.

This is definitely a thin-legged wolf spider (genus Pardosa), & the large, hairy, black pedipalps say it's a male, but which species?

Given that I'm in southern Germany, the best bet would be one of P. nigriceps, P. hortensis, or P. amentata.

But the markings on the cephalothorax don't quite match any of those 🤷‍♂️

Anyone? 🧐

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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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Hope despite it all.

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<sound on>

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 🤷‍♂️

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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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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.

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