Thursday 9 July 2009

More bugs!

Apart from the lovely butterflies on my local reserve, there were some great other bugs too.
This Ladybird was trundling along up this flower stem minding its own business. I guess it must be a 7 spot Ladybird as it has er........ 7 spots on its bod! (-: I'd be happy if someone corrected me.I wondered if there was something wrong with this female Banded Demoiselle with it's bent body, but after a minutes or so it flew off quite happily. I love these iridescent colours!Speaking of iridescent, here's a handsome bug. I looked him up in my bug book when I got home and he has the snazzy name of Oedemera nobilis. The male has these swollen hind legs. They look like pantaloons I think!Here is a female white legged Damselfly. The male is a dazzling blue colour, but I didn't get a photo of him that day.Well, this isn't a bug, but the edges of the lake had this lovely Purple Loostrife just coming into bloom. In a week or so it should look quite a sight.And to end, this isn't a bug either, but I couldn't resist trying to take photos of some Barn Swallows swooping down to take a drink. As you can see I wasn't very successful, but I still like the movement in this photo.I'll finish up my bug walk around the Rodden reserve in my next post.

9 comments:

Rural Rambler said...

Jenny I love the bug pictures and have to comment on the Ladybird. We have Asian beetles over here that look lots like ladybugs but are nasty imposters that stink and leave orange trails AND they bite! They show up in late fall after a frost and cover our house. We hate dealing with them, they get in the house and ruin the paint on the walls and ceilings. I would love to see a real ladybug but the Asian beetles have all but forced them out!

I think the bug with the pantaloons is a snazzy kind of guy! The Damselfly are beautiful!

Great pictures tonight!

Eve said...

You did such another nice job here Jenny! I'm loving the bugs! Great capture on the Barn Swallow too! Wow, now I need to do another nature walk!

Kelly said...

....lovely photos and a beautiful little ladybird!! I've never seen a damselfly bent like that. Very cool. I wonder if it's some sort of mutation or a recessive gene or something...interesting (although I just recently started studying bugs, so maybe it's common!!!).

Unknown said...

Great find on the Edemera nobilis insect. I've never seen one of those before- those are some really neat legs- they do look like pantaloons! :)

Shelley said...

All beautiful but that ladybird was my favorite!! We've had a few of them flying around our cabin and I always try to catch them to let them outside (before my cat tries to eat them!)

Mary said...

Lovely Ladybird...ladybug! Does anyone other than an entomologist or a photographer count the spots on a ladybug? I like that green bug with the pantaloons...funny! I wonder why some bugs are irridescent...sure makes them standout. Lovely damselflies! I don't see very many of them, but saw a neat one yesterday.

Jenny said...

Hi RR, sounds more like a Ladybeast you have there! Our Ladybirds are a gardeners friend as they eat loads oand loads of Greenfly and Blackfly.

Hi Evie, I'll really look forward to your next nature walk. It's been fun seeing what your new surroundings are like!

Hi Kelly, I can't remember seeing one bent like that before. I think you could be right and it was some kind of mutation, it did seem to fly off alright though.

Hi Daniel, I expect you will have something similar over there, only it will probably been twice as big and will bite too! (-: Thanks very much for stopping in and commenting on my blog.

Hi Shelley, Ha Ha! I will have to keep an eye on Poppy to see if she tries eating them. She is certainly already interested in the damselflies around the pond!!!

Hi Mary, I wish I knew more about bugs and beetles and bees and things like that.....there is always miles to much for my pea like brain to take in though! (-:

Anonymous said...

That's a pretty good effort getting that Swallow Jen.
I have seen quite a few 7 Spots this year as well, more than those interlopers thank goodness.

Quiet Paths said...

Really wonderful Macros. I of course find the ladybug so beautiful with her red dress.