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