Orange tip butterfly Anthocharis cardamines
Back in May I had one day where I got some shots of orange tip butterflies Anthocharis cardamines. There were a few males around. And a female reacted positively to interest from one male.
Back in May I had one day where I got some shots of orange tip butterflies Anthocharis cardamines. There were a few males around. And a female reacted positively to interest from one male.
After the success of the Pond olive mayfly larva post I thought I post about another of the ponds amazing creatures: the Phantom midge larva. I took some photos of these creatures today. They are specialised predators that live a mostly planktonic life. Floating around in open water they would be easily spotted and vulnerable…
One of the most common finds in garden ponds this time of year is the Pond olive mayfly nymph Cloen dipterum. Mayflies usual conjure up thoughts of adults that mate and die after a day or two, and to those more familiar aquatic invertebrates of the larvae that live the the relatively oxygen rich flowing…
I had another attempt at the ‘meet the neighbours’ style wildlife photography, which involves photographing your subject on a completely white background. I tried it first on a Rhantus Diving beetle in one of my aquariums. I also tried it with a water stick insect. Then a few close ups with a normal background
On the same trip to Argostoli as my last post, I also explored the small wooded area around the visitor centre there (which isn’t advertised anywhere for some reason!?). As I walked along the path a beetle the size of a stag beetle flew right past me, which I have to admit gave me quite…
Back in June, I came across this Giant Horsefly (Tabanus sp.) They lay their eggs on pond margins where their larvae live. I photographed a larva last year. I got a head on shot too. They thankfully (for us) tend to leave humans alone and tend bite horses and cows.
Back at the start of September I was walking around KWT Oare Marshes Nature Reserve in North Kent with a couple of friends when one spotted this creature running across the path. I recognised it imediately as one of the velvet ants, the female of a type of solitary wingless wasp. I had always wanted…
It was a cold winter December day today in Essex. Most the insect life is dormant for winter, but under the ice in the ponds there is still plenty of activity. A sweep with the net and a caught a number of creatures: damselfly larvae, water lice, water beetles and 2 species of backswimmer, the…
Last week on a visit to Norsey Woods in Billericay, Essex, I tracked down a wood ant nest and photographed the ants as they collected up food and nest building material. This pair were dragging a dead ant back to the nest. Others were moving small twigs and leaves to the nest. I did manage…
A few shots of a darter dragonfly nymph (Sympetrum sp.) I took back in July with my photographic aquarium set up: