Any bug photos during September 2015

[James G]

I guess I'm starting this months thread....
Sequence below is of a rather small arachnid which I'm fairly sure is Nigma walckenaeri.
I saw it yesterday in my garden. It's small, about 1-1.5mm (they can get to about 4mm)
It had just trapped a small fly.
#1


#2


#3


Today, it was still on the same ivy leafand seems to have extended its web. It was rather damp!

#4


#5


And just for variety...

#6 Worker Ant

[Geoff F]

That spider is something to show to a real expert, James.

According to my books; rare and very local in the south east. More common in Southern Europe.

Here is a bit of an oddity although a very common species. Field Grasshopper nymph with unusual colour markings.

[James G]

Hi Geoff, I referred it to Craig Slawson, a co-ordinator for Staffordshire Ecological Record (SER) to see if it can be confirmed.

At first, given how small it is, I thought it was a young Green Orb spider, but the markings on the abdomen don't match at all, and the head area is green, which doesn't fit either. Nigma was the only match I could find, but as you pointed out, the location in Birmingham seems a pretty large shift. It seems to be quite happy at present on an ivy in the garden, so I'm keeping an eye on it.


Thursday : Follow up from Peter Harvey (SRS @britishspiders.org.uk)

This is a subadult male Nigma walckenaeri, a late summer/autumn maturing
species which used to be confined to the London and Severn valley areas,
but which has been spreading in recent years. It makes its web on leaves
like ivy, lilac or similar.

I live near the main London to Birmingham rail line so that might account for the jump in range.

[IzzieK]

What a beautiful close up of the spider, James...I particularly prefer the #4 and #5 images for its artistic characteristics...

[Geoff F]

If it came by train, who paid the fare?

Quite a few insect species seem to be gradually spreading in range so who knows what will turn up next? Just goes to show that you should always keep a watchful eye open for anything which seems different from normal.

[Cantab]

If it came by train, who paid the fare?

Quite a few insect species seem to be gradually spreading in range so who knows what will turn up next? Just goes to show that you should always keep a watchful eye open for anything which seems different from normal.

Insects really seem able to move around. We have earwigs on the west coast of North America (and probably elsewhere on the continent). I read recently that they all came from Europe. They presumably hitched a ride on a ship a long time ago.

[James G]

I particularly prefer the #4 and #5 images for its artistic characteristics...

Thanks Izzie, but I can't take any credit for 'artistic' merit. Because it was so small, just getting a focus was tricky

The two you liked are actually a sequence which I focus stacked because the spider was under/inside its web. We have had less than pleasant weather this last couple of weeks and it has been raining heavily. Hence the water droplets.
I was lucky to have a period of a couple of hours when everything went very quiet so got the tripod set up and managed a sequence of 5 for each shot. If there had been any wind I would never have managed it.

Some days it just comes together

[JBW]

[James G]

Looks like a Shield Bug ...

[James G]

Mosquito in my living room last night. Culex sp, (either pipiens or torentium?), also female I think from the antennae.

#1


#2


As far as I can tell it has also been the wars somewhat since it appears to have lost one leg.

[Geoff F]

Looks like her abdomen is well filled with eggs, James; just needs a drink of blood.

Here are a couple of different types of wasp; and they don't pose a problem for people.

An Ichneumon, possibly Heteropilma amictum.



And a solitary living Digger Wasp, possibly Cerceris arenaria going by the parts which aren't visible from this angle.

[James G]

Looks like her abdomen is well filled with eggs, James; just needs a drink of blood.

I'm afraid she never got the chance. I draw the line at house flies and mosquito's indoors. I photographed then executed! (Although if she is pipiens I think they feed off birds more than humans?)

[piggsy]

What I believe is a Opisthoncus mordax, known as the "Biting Jumping Spider". The propensity for australian animals to be very unimaginatively named after something they either are or do a lot shook me pretty bad when I found that out (given that it kept jumping at me / the camera, flailing about at the end of its web streamer, and returning to the perch ) but apparently its only named that because of the prominent fangs, so say some websites

E-P5 / Tokina AT-X 90mm F2.5 / Raynox DCR150

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http://abload.de/img/p90900119npgd.jpg

http://abload.de/img/p9090017r8o1f.jpg

http://abload.de/img/p9090050taqrs.jpg

http://abload.de/img/p9090044ycqp8.jpg

[Geoff F]

They always make fascinating subjects and these are well photographed.

[marlunn]

We have been away on holiday and I missed the start of this thread - lots of great shots, the Nigma walckenaeri especially nice, the Mozzie - decidedly gravid and out for blood !

had to do this in Chrome as Firefox still wont connect to tinypics, something has changed in Firefox on my pc but dont know what as it used to work for me okay, ah well, not to worry.

We were in Dorset, we had to go to Brownsea island for the red squirrels as my youngest is specialising in them for her 3rd year of her degree in Natural History photography, they are not bugs so not shown here, but the Hornets, Vespa Crabo were being friendly they are really docile and placid compared to the wasps, it was happy to wander over my hand and then be put down onto the heather.

[James G]

Hi Mark, nice catch with the hornet. We had them last autumn in the garden amongst our willows. Could not convince anyone they were fairly docile compared to wasps. Janet thinks your mad... mind you she knows I am!

Interesting about Firefox. I switched from IE11/Edge when I upgraded my test system to Windows 10. I think my security settings which are 'strong' caused problems, particularly with video from the BBC... go figure that!

I've loaded Firefox, and probs with the MS apps have disappeared. Trouble is it's not worth the time to find out what changed when loading a different browser seems to resolve things!

[Geoff F]

I'm working fine with Firefox, Mark, but I have to use the Go Advanced option for posting (Windows 7). Post Quick Reply gives me problems.

Hornets are certainly more friendly than wasps and only become agitated if you get too close to a nest; and even then they will give you a few 'buzz past' warnings before getting serious.

Here is a spider, just the common Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus) which is feeding on a Platycheirus rosarum hoverfly.



A mating pair of Helophilus pendulus



A Hornet Robberfly (Asilus crabroniformis) which is a really substantial beast with a body which is 1 inch long and is the largest of the UK Robberflies. This one is laying eggs into dung.



I think this bee is probably Lasioglossum calceatum male, going by that red patch on its abdomen.



I have now started to get upload problems so I will continue as an edit.

[marlunn]

Nice shots Geoff, love the spider shot especially
James, my daughter thinks I am a bit crazy but she agrees they are beautiful and fascinating and she is not as afraid of them as she is of wasps !

As for the Firefox, suspect I may have changed things when I did the upgrade and reset all my core apps, but I cant see what would have done that, no worries thats what Chrome is for then

This fella was on the curtains in our chalet, my daughter squealed when she drew the curtains to reveal him ! He was about 6cm end to end leg wise

Tegenaria gigantea

[Geoff F]

That is a male Tegenaria, Mark; females are even bigger!

Haven't Tegenaria been renamed recently?

Here is another Robberfly, but a little smaller. Brown Heath Robberfly - Machimus cingulatus



And a Dark Bush Cricket; which is a species that seems to be doing well around here this year.

[James G]

Hi Geoff, I believe there is now identification for a 'Giant' House Spider as Eratigena atrica. I'm not sure I'm convinced it is really a separate species, since Eratigena is an anagram of Tegenaria!