Common
This is the prime season for Common Red Soldier Beetles, though you can find the adults at any time between June and September, and because copulation is a protracted affair, this is the activity in which you most commonly see … Continued
Tilly’s field has finally produced a reasonable number of butterflies, including about half a dozen Marbled Whites. Because of this year’s dearth of wild flowers, though, there’s quite steep competition for food among all the nectar-feeding insects, and the black … Continued
If I told you how many photos I took of these soldier beetles on the riverbank in Stratford today, in order to achieve precisely one that was in focus, you’d probably laugh. I’d have to admit that it wasn’t one … Continued
This photo works as a follow-up to yesterday’s. The female Green Shieldbug, on the right here, noticed me trying to photograph their nuptials, and literally dragged her partner across the depth of the aucuba leaf, over the edge, and down … Continued
For most of today I expected to be posting either the Green Shieldbug I found on the honeysuckle this morning, or an Early Bumblebee which was working one of the gooseberry bushes in the secret garden. But late this afternoon, … Continued
When I went out bug-bothering in the garden this afternoon I wasn’t expecting to find myself interrupting any private moments, but here we are. I beat this pair of Cinnamon Sedges from the quince tree, and they were so outraged … Continued
I know it’s only a few days since I posted another pair of Migrant Hawkers in cop, but you can never see too many Odonata mating wheels, amirite? This pair was rather more battered than the couple I spotted in … Continued