Insects and Spiders

Those are great- all three of them!

One of the more common Mirid bugs (Deraeocoris ruber) from a walk this evening

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Thank you very much! I haven't been able to get out as much this year, and we now have a dog, which cuts down on how much wildlife I spot and the lengthof our walks, but I was pretty chuffed with the dragonflies. The pond skaters were very lively, and I failed to get a shot I was really happy with.

A week off camping with the kids in Brittany and these stabby bastards are literally everywhere.

I guess it goes with the herd.

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Just squealed like a child when this fell on my head whilst sitting next to the outside wall of the pub. It is as big as my (normal adult sized) thumb. By far the biggest spider I’ve encountered in the UK. Can anyone ID it?

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Internet suggest juvenile Segestria florentina. Slight greenish hint to its sizeable bitey bits

Literally not a clue but that looks fucking huge.

I thought funnel webs only topped 2cm body length.

Is the Cardinal Spider not the biggest UK species by mass? 🤔

Cardinal Spider not the biggest UK species by mass?

I've heard they have a tendency to verbosity.

It's a tube web - front three pairs of legs are forwards facing.

Amen to that?

Some nice 'true bugs' (Hemiptera) are about at the moment as we're getting into high summer. This one is a Tortoise Bug (Eurygaster testudinaria). They can be good subjects for macro photography as they don't move that fast! I've just released this one back to the wild after a quick macro photo shoot.

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Jersey tiger moth - we used to see these when we were in SE23, haven’t seen them out here before, we usually get the scarlet ones. And my first speckled bush cricket of the year, at last.

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I think this is a willow beauty, top and underside

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And a big caterpillar (emperor moth?)

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Yes, definitely an Emperor moth caterpillar - nice find! The moth is one of the 'Beauty' moths. They are quite difficult to distinguish from each other but the Willow Beauty is one of the more common and yours could definitely be that.

Wasp numbers may be declining, see https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/07/uk-failing-to-monitor-apparently-falling-wasp-populations-expert-warns
Footnote states that "this article was amended to replace the image which showed a bee rather than a wasp"!

Glow worm

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Nice find. I've still not see one in the UK yet.

A Common Green Shieldbug nymph (Palomena prasina) in the garden last evening.

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Golden Ringed dragonfly, I think a female. She was sitting in the middle of a track after a heavy rain shower, presumably too wet to fly. Lucky I didn't step on her! But she was very happy to climb on to the tip of my walking pole and pose for pictures before I put her on a small conifer to dry out in the sun.

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👍🏼

Great pics

Common red darter or sympetrum striolatum (I think) on my watering can this morning.

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Absolute cracker. Location?

Along time ago I was in the jungles of Sri Lanka at the Kandamala Resort and spied this huge beast. Not so different?

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Location?

Loch Ossian, Scottish Highlands

Wow. Guess Golden Ringed Dragonfly's are Worldwide. Some variation on the patterns too. Ta👌