Insects and Spiders

First butterflies of the year for me, 1 Brimstone and 5+ Small tortoiseshell

Shitloads of Brimstone on Boxhill. Never seem to settle / feed

Saw my first Brimstone of the year today too but no chance of a photo - far to flighty. Much easier was this slow moving Thistle Tortoise Beetle (Cassida rubiginosa)

1 Attachment

Masses of butterflies out in the sun today.

1 Attachment

My garden is chock full of ladybirds

1 Attachment

Spotted what I think was a Pantaloon bee borrowing between two patio slabs today

Dark-edged Bee-fly (Bombylius major) were everywhere on my walk today

1 Attachment

Hi @eskay, I think it's a bit early for Pantaloon Bees their flight season is June-August (https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/pa­ntaloon-bee/). I think your bee is more likely to be a female mining bee - possibly a female Yellow-legged Mining Bee (Andrena flavipes)? They will be flying now and are quite widely distributed in southern England.
Some photos for comparison with yours at http://www.dorsetnature.co.uk/pages-hyme­noptera/hym-30.html
https://www.wildessex.net/species/yellow­-legged%20mining%20bee.htm

It looks like you are correct, I did notice the fly dates but could not find anything else that looked like it on the site I was using. Your link is much better! Bug season is starting to kick off!

I usually hear these before seeing them in my garden, noisy little devils!

A male Green Dock Beetle (Gastrophysa viridula) found on Dock (of course) this evening. I'm now using an Olympus Tough TG-6 for 'micro' photography https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/uk/re­views/olympus-tough-tg-6-review . I'm really happy with the results so far.

1 Attachment

An Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) catching some rays yesterday.

1 Attachment

What an amazing beast!

What dis?

I'm assuming it will suck my brains out while I'm sleeping with that giant face spike.

[Edit]

Bee fly 'Bombylius major'

Beeflydeathsquito, surely?

(First search result for "spike faced flying cunt uk")

1 Attachment

Haha, long nectar sucking device rather than brain feed tube.

Horse flies however can fuck off. Basically surgical scissors with wings.

Evolution is an amazing thing.

Parasites are Gods children too.

🤣

....and then they get elected into the House of Commons.

An on thread-topic photo from a walk in the woods today - insect and spider in one (slightly out of focus) image. The spider is, Misumena vatia, or the Flower Crab Spider. It doesn't use a web but instead it uses stealth and surprise to catch it's prey: in this case a fly.

1 Attachment

Garden is coming to life again.

5 Attachments

So many great pics in here recently, thanks all!

Nice spider pics!

Myathropa florea, a common high-summer hoverfly out a few weeks early, basking in the evening sun.

1 Attachment

Really pleased with this one - found a Green Nettle Weevil (Phyllobius pomaceus) this evening. Looks just like a miniature shining green moose ...

1 Attachment

Hanging about at my work

1 Attachment

Got this monster in the living room, seems to have made home between the window and secondary glazing. Probably eat me in my sleep tonight.

1 Attachment