Insects and Spiders

This whopping great bumble hanging out on my back door in the sun earlier

Looking forward to insect season coming back into full swing

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Amazing!
I wonder if… ah, never mind

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Ha! Fishy bikes, faces everywhere, and now the tantalizing possibility of cutting edge IT designs inspired by insects ...

As Eejit says, looking forward to new life springing up around us in the next few weeks.

I saw my first Tree Bee (Bombus hypnorum) of the year in the warm sunshine last weekend.

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Wow.

Evolution!

Found my first Box Bug (Gonocerus acuteangulatus) of the year this afternoon. These used to have a very restricted range in the UK, in and around Box Hill, Surry, feeding on the Box. But over the last few years they've started feeding on other shrubs and are slowly expanding their range westward and northward, see https://www.britishbugs.org.uk/heteroptera/Coreidae/gonocerus_acuteangulatus.html

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Great eyes they have, look almost cartoony.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/mar/10/one-mans-incredible-photos-of-all-58-of-britains-native-butterflies

This Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) didn't quite make it to Spring

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A lovely bee of some variety. Who doesn’t love a bee?

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First bee fly of the year for me, always a good sign of better weather to come.

Very exciting visitor to my garden
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cqu9dqnPuNz/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Spring has truly sprung then! Haven’t seen any this year so far in the south west, hopefully they’ll make it over here as it warms up

A bee fly from me, too.

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Harmless but looks like it will lance your intestines.

Parasitic as well, their larvae grow in host insects and end up killing them.

They have really complex reproductive behaviors. You can sometimes see the females, like the one in the great photo from @Jehannum , bobbing up and down over sandy or dusty soil dipping their abdomen in the dust. They then fly low over the ground looking for the nest holes of solitary bees and wasps. When they find one they do a low pass over the nest hole and flick their dust-covered eggs into the hole. If they are successful, their larvae hatches, eats the larvae of the solitary bee or wasp and then eats all the provisions (nectar/pollen) that the adult bee or wasp had left for it's own larvae. The Bee Fly larvae then pupates and the new adult emerges next spring to start the cycle over again. The Bee Flies do all this timed to the nesting of their hosts, i.e. now.

There are a couple of species in the UK but only the Dark-edged Bee Fly (Bombylius major) is common. Having said that, it's worth keeping an eye out for the Dotted Bee Fly (Bombylius discolor) (dots on the wings and not the black bar, usually a rich red brown 'fur' and pale cream at the wing bases) if you are in southern UK - I've seen a couple this year so far.

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Rose chafer clumsily wandering around the garden

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A female Tawney Mining Bee (Andrena fulva) looking particularly fluffy on a fine spring morning today

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An alder fly yesterday.

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Saw a couple of these oil bugs (?) crossing the road the other day. Quite cool/evil looking. Not seen one before.

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Found this Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) sheltering from the cold and rain today in a patch of Ivy - apex predator!

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Great photo, as usual

Bit early no?

Edit. The wasp. 😁

In a field of reeds by the river Greet near Southwell today - is it a mint beetle?

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Leaf beetles are particularly difficult - there are so many of them - there are some images of a good cross-section of them here https://www.naturespot.org.uk/family/chrysomelidae .

Mint Leaf Beetles (Chrysolina herbacea) are typically metallic green with obvious punctures on their elytra. Your one looks more like an Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni) - they are deep bluish-violet and have elongated, domed abdomens. Habitat would be right and I've seen quite a few already this month.