HAPPY SNAPPER.

I had a good couple of walks this morning. I didn't find anything rare but I did snap a little above my pay grade. I'll start with two flies on a blade of grass.

These are male and female Golden Dung Flies; Scathophaga stercoraria. I'll leave you to sort out the sexes. If you look at them enlarged you will see the pseudopupil. A fly's eye is made up of several receptors called ommatidia The dark bit is the part seeing you as it's absorbing light. You can also see the haltere under the wing; it looks like a stick with a blob on the end. This counterbalances the fly in flight. It has one the other side to stop it flying in circles.

This is a Crane Fly; Nephrotoma quadrifaria. It is an attractive wee beast but a pound to a penny it's larva eat barley roots. Naughty larva.

I am very pleased with this. I had a wander down to the burn looking for caddis fly larva but found this newly hatched beauty climbing up a stick.  It is a Mayfly, possibly Serratella ignita. Mayflies are interesting as they have two adult incarnations one as a Dun and then as a Spinner. I think this is a Dun. Life is never a smooth ride, whilst taking this I crouched a little too far and my welly filled with burn water.

 I am getting rather a backlog of insects so may have another post when I've identified them.
Have fun.

A FEW MORE.

I have a few more insects but before I get to them I'd like to pass on a bit of free software I found.

I like playing with 3D software but if I want to export designs to a machine then Blender is a bit of a pain. Most CNC machines use a version of G-code. This free stuff will convert SVG files to G-code; well enough for profile cutting, routing  and such like. MAKERCAM If you don't have Adobe Illustrator then you can use Inkscape to produce SVG files from JPEG or most other image formats. It seems to be 2D but should work on a lathe. I'll look into it further.

Here are a selection of insects.

This is a better view of the Pine Ladybird larva. It's eating breakfast.

I am not sure about this but I think it is a Mirid Bug nymph. Orthonotus rufifrons. I do know it's very small and pretty.

This is a Sycamore Aphid; Drepanosiphum platanoidis. A big name for a little creature. The two tubes behind it's legs are breathing snorkels and all aphids have them.. I think.

I'm not 100% sure but I am going for a Common Leaf Weevil; Phyllobius pyri. I find weevils comical but I don't own any plants.

A Mirid Bug; Calocoris stysi. I suspect this is a new one as the older ones have two yellow triangles at the end of the wing case. A wonderful little beast but a tad lively.

Have fun.

BABY LADY.

I found this little creature yesterday. It had me baffled but I asked on iSpot and a knowledgeable lady suggested a Striped Ladybird larva. I think I now have a positive ID.
Here are it's pictures.

I am almost certain it's a Pine Ladybird larva; Exochomus quadipustulatus. The adults are black and have four red spots as the name suggests. However some only have two spots. I'll keep an eye out for a grown up one.
I have one photograph to finish off this post and it's an entire Sabre Wasp. I took the 100mm macro lens out as the MP-E65mm can't fit a whole one in.

GREAT DIVING BEETLE.

This afternoon I managed to catch a beautiful lady. Here she is for your delectation and edification.

A female Great Diving Beetle; Dytiscus marginalis. As you can see I had her in a Tupperware sandwich box. The males look very similar but have smooth wing cases. She is around 30mm long and though I tried to dry her out on the grass she wouldn't open her wings and fly.
Here are a few more views of her.

I did notice a male but failed to net it. I'd like to get a larva. They are much longer and slimmer and can give a nasty nip. I'll see if I can find one.

LONGHORN BEETLE

I went out early this morning in the hope of finding dozy insects. I was sitting next to the pile of fallen spruce trees and hoping to find either Sabre Wasps or their prey the Horned Wasp. I got close.

 Closeish. This is a Longhorned Beetle. Rhagium bifasciatum.
I'll go out again before the rain and have another go. There is little else to do today. I could vote but I refuse to vote when the choice is between bad and awful.

INSECT TIME.

Insects have been a week or two late this year. I blame all these elections. I only post now when I see a new one for me and after three days messing have this beauty.

It’s a Giant Ichneumon Wasp or Sabre Wasp. Rhyssa persuasoria. I have seen them before but these are the first snaps I have managed. They are a little shy and SIT- STAY they don’t understand. I’m not surprised neither do my dogs.
I know it is a trivial posting pictures of wasps when the country is fighting the religion of peace but hey hum none of my family died so a tea light will do.