butterfly bonanza

the brilliant sunshine of today brought forth an array of butterflies,some even alighted long enough for me to capture them on camera,I hope you enjoy them too...

the Comma butterfly,readily identified by it's ragged wing margins and the white comma on the underside

Gatekeeper

this pretty little butterfly is the Holly Blue

the Brimstone with hooked wingtips,may live for about a year

the ever beautiful Peacock

I added this one as she was clearly taking off as I tried to capture her,a Small White I think

aha,a Violet Ground Beetle has manged to sneak in

 

a Meadow Grasshopper .I sat on something extremely spikey in order to get this shot but worth it I think; they may be even trickier to get up close to than butterflies..

the butterfly counts not months but moments...

a female Small White butterfly

A Burnet moth of some type-just not sure which.They are day moths and apt to being a little sluggish which is of course the only reason I got close enough with my camera and nothing to do with stealth and patience

I think this is a Green-Veined White butterfly

a Brown butterfly,characterised by the eye-spot on it's wing 





I have to admit to the fly pics holding a certain kind of appeal ..

a miniscule beetle of some sort

another teeny tiny and as yet unidentified beetle (or is it a bug?)

punch-drunk on pollen,if you zoom in you can see they are completely covered in pollen

Coleoptera,similar to the Wasp beetle,but it is in fact the Strangalia maculata

not sure they could have squeezed on any more if they tried

will have to consult mum about this one...

just lovin the fly eyes





these Cinnebar caterpillars are  getting fatter and juicier by the day

 

beetles,bugs and bees





 an abundance of delightful and vibrant mini-beasts,that can only be appreciated up close and personal...

Beetles are characterised by tough and horny forewings,known as elytra which usually cover the whole of the abdomen and meet in a straight line down the centre. The name Coleoptera meaning 'sheath-wings' refers to this feature.Adult beetles all have biting jaws

this therefore is a beetle from the Coleoptera order,known as Agapanthia villosoviridescens.It goes without saying that the female is obviously the more beautiful and vibrant of the two..

Coleoptera - I'm really not convinced this is a Cardinal beetle although think the species is very similar-possibly the Pyrochroa serraticornis

as you can see it helps not one jot in identification when they are not in one's insect book....Hemiptera of some sort??

mum attempted to explain the difference between bugs and beetles-it goes a little like this--only members of the order Hemiptera should be referred to as bugs.The suborders Heteroptera and Homoptera help distinguish them. The forewings when present of Heteroptera are laid flat over the body usually with a good deal of overlap,altough some are completely wingless. The scutellum is usually triangular and very conspicuous (beetles forewings however tend to meet in the middle with no overlap).With the Homoptera  the forewings ,when present  are either leathery or membranous and usually folded back over the body in a tent-like fashion.Antennae tend to be short  and bristle like.                                                          

Heteroptera-Sloe bug

ah, back to the far less complicated flies..another fine specimen of the Volucella pellucens (order Diptera)

basking in the sun The Cinnabar catterpillars



I know it must be a beetle of the order Coleoptera-but nothing more..



as is usually the way I'd taken this out of interest for the fading flower head ,only noticing the passenger on editing-too small to identify though

couldn't resist!

nature takes no prisoners

buzzing hedgerows



Sloe Bug Dolycoris baccarum



these were taken yesterday afternoon which was particularly bright and sunny.I only had a limited amount of time so was restricted to a certain path-but boy was it buzzing with life.I could easily have spent the whole afternoon just watching the insect activity around me.Butterflies and moths were out in abundance and dancing around but  you need lots of time for those shots which sadly I didn't have.                                                       

I have never seen this striking fly before Vollucella Pellucens.It is very fond of bramble blossom apparently which is exactly where it was hovering.

I was fascinated by the way this bee used it's leg for stability in order to get right into the heart of the flower in search of pollen

mmm-lunchtime