Lesser diving beetle larva Acilius eating Backswimmer Notonecta nymph

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that the strange looking larva of the lesser diving beetle Acilius sp. (probably sulcatus) swimming around in a pond. I quick went and got a net and caught one, before taking it inside to photography in my aquarium set up. It is a fairly distinctive larvae with its…

Essex skipper, marbled white, common blue, gatekeeper and large white butterflies

Following on from my last post, at Hadleigh Country Park there were were also plenty of butterflies. This Essex skipper was a nice find. It looks like a small skipper but the underside of the antennae are black. There were also some marbled white butterflies about. This one was looking a little tatty I tried…