Friday 13 July 2012

Miniature wildlife

Whilst plants are my normal photographic subjects, sometimes a little creature also attracts my attention. Here are some photos of wildlife, all taken in the last two weeks.

This is a really tiny beetle, on a flower of Hypericum / St.John's Wort / Rose of Sharon:


This unlovely beastie is a Chafer Grub, and I found him in one of my potato pots as I was harvesting. Fortunately he seemed to be alone...


This is the pupa of a Ladybird. Which type, I don't really know.


This is a small spider, just about to devour a greenfly which has become entangled in its web:


I'm not sure what this is. It looks like a cross between a wasp and a cricket!

That fly is taking a close look too...

Is it a Goodie or a Baddie, I ask?

This is a Hoverfly, sipping nectar from an Olive flower:


This year I have seen hardly any butterflies - just one or two Small Whites. Not many bees recently either. I imagine they are finding it very difficult to get enough food because there are a lot fewer flowers for them.

10 comments:

  1. I have been pleased to see that we have more bees this year than I have seen the last couple years but I have not seen a lot of butterflies either. Now moths are a different story. They seem to love our back shed and if you go in there early in the morning just before dawn they will be so thick you would do good to remember to not breath with your mouth open...trust me.

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  2. Lovely shots Mark. I haven't seen many butterflies either only the odd white but we have had lots of bees on the flowers on the rare occasions when the weather has been dry

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  3. Lovely photos. I haven't seen many butterflies, but I have plenty of bee around my garden.

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  4. With the wet weather i haven't seen many butterflies. I have seen bee's. A few years ago before i started the veg plot, we had a bumblebee nest in the garden. It was fascinating to watch them.

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  5. This beetle that looks like wasp is actually a member of the long-horn beetles, the family Cerambycidae. I have them in my garden too.

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  6. Really enjoyed the hover fly picture. Lovely shot.

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  7. Few butterflies, many cabbage moths!

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  8. Some good photos! I've had very few butterflies except quite a few of the whites. Loads of small moths. Lots of bees. I find those Chafer Grubs under grass quite often when I'm tidying up borders; ugly little things they are.

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  9. Great close-ups Mark - you certainly have an eagle-eye!

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  10. Good macros Mark. Have you tried iSpot for help with identification of your unknown creatures? It is usually very helpful.

    I have long wanted to see what an Olive flower looks like so I must thank you for posting that shot.

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