The "What is this bug?" thread
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Mike, I think you've got me with those. I have enough trouble with UK brown moths, without you widening the field to the rest of Europe 
. Second one resembles a Dot Moth, but I don't think it is. Not an earthly on the first one.
. Second one resembles a Dot Moth, but I don't think it is. Not an earthly on the first one.Talking to a local RSPB warden who foolishly mentioned she liked to ID moths..... 2 emails later
[h=2]Flame Brocade Trigonophora flammea [/h]
Fairly sure - cannot be certain from just a picture etc. Minimal Google foo seem to agree
recently back in the UK on the south coast it seems
Mike
Elen Sentier
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Yeah, that's another way of saying "I don't really know", but still sounding knowledgable.
Thanks for the help. The Flame Brocade is lovely.
Just bumping this thread with the first 'bug' of the year for me, a baby wolf spider, Pardosa spp
Out and about today, saw various bees, real and pretend.
White tailed bumblebee, Bombus leucorum
Honeybee, Apis mellifera
A solitary bee (can't identify it better than that)
A bee mimicking hoverfly, usually called a drone fly, Eristalis sp
Another bee mimicking hoverfly, though I'm unsure exactly what this one is
A bee fly, Bombylius major
It seems that the insects are out now, so might as well revive this thread.
White tailed bumblebee, Bombus leucorum
Honeybee, Apis mellifera
A solitary bee (can't identify it better than that)
A bee mimicking hoverfly, usually called a drone fly, Eristalis sp
Another bee mimicking hoverfly, though I'm unsure exactly what this one is
A bee fly, Bombylius major
It seems that the insects are out now, so might as well revive this thread.
Okay, here's an inchneumonid that I don't know, Hymenoptera not being a strength of mine. Anyone familiar with these? I hoped for gasteruption jaculator, but the abdomen is not right, so now I'm coming down in favour of a Torymus.
Some bugs from this week:
Big black fly thing? I liberated it from my shed.
2013-05-05 10.32.24 by Sami knives, on Flickr
Peacock:
Goeie 2 by Sami knives, on Flickr
This one was a good butterfly. He stayed in the tree long enough so I could take a macro shot:
Goeie by Sami knives, on Flickr
Big black fly thing? I liberated it from my shed.
2013-05-05 10.32.24 by Sami knives, on Flickr
Peacock:
Goeie 2 by Sami knives, on Flickr
This one was a good butterfly. He stayed in the tree long enough so I could take a macro shot:
Goeie by Sami knives, on Flickr
I can confirm that that is a big black fly thing. Probably a Tachinid from the wing venation, but I can't say which one.
Nice peacock, and the other one is a speckled wood.
Nice peacock, and the other one is a speckled wood.
That is a wolf spider, genus Pardosa. Impossible to do to species in the field. Looks like it might be a male.
Okay, here's an inchneumonid that I don't know, Hymenoptera not being a strength of mine. Anyone familiar with these? I hoped for gasteruption jaculator, but the abdomen is not right, so now I'm coming down in favour of a Torymus.
I've done some web browsing trying to identify this, but the consensus from the experts appears to be "Give up now". There is no guide to species, even identification to subfamily is pretty difficult, and photographs or living ichneumonids are next to useless. And that's just for the UK.
So, I give up on this one.
Does anyone know if these bee flies are different species or not? Probably a bit hard from the pictures but the buggers wouldn't sit still.
Dave, I've never seen a bee fly like that second one. Assuming it really is a bee fly (I can't tell from the pic) then I would be confident that they are different species. I'll do some googling, s you have made me curious now.
Hmm, seems there are 9 species of UK bee fly, and they are not easy to distinguish, but I can't yet find an identification resource for them. The common bee fly is Bombylius major, other wise know as the dark edged bee fly, which is probably your first one, and I know the Wildlife Trusts are interested in the heath bee Fly and mottled bee fly. I need to know more, as B. major is the only one I know of from personal experience. Out of curiosity, where did you see that second one Dave?
I live between Abertillery and Brynmawr. I'll keep an eye out and try and get better pics. If it's in the name of science I might have to invest in that macro lens I've wanted for ages...
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