Anoplius viaticus

Spotted an Anoplius viaticus female at Cooper's Hill starting to dig a hole, right in the middle of the path which may not have been the best choice of location, but I knew that she must have an immobilized spider victim somewhere nearby. The initial digging took twenty-two minutes then finally off she went down the path, about 3 metres, where the spider was sitting in full sight. Some spider hunters hide their prey from rivals while they dig their hole, but not this one. The main problem though was that it was uphill from there to the hole she'd dug, and it was loose sand all the way. Natural selection should have meant she'd have died of exhaustion trying to drag it all that way, so, being a softie, I assisted by pushing at the rear with a heather twig while she pulled on a leg at the front. Thirty-two minutes later we finally had the spider in the hole, and did I get any thanks for helping...?

At one point, sadly while I was some distance away, hence no pictures, a Green Tiger Beetle ran over to the wasp and attacked her. I wondered who would win and the answer came quickly as the GTB quickly dashed away. I wonder if it was stung and now lies paralyzed somewhere?

Not sure if I've got the colour balance right as I had to do a lot of fiddling back at base. Must check my camera for a beach setting...!

GTB

It's the time of year for the obligatory Green Tiger Beetle photo (at Cooper's Hill today)...

Broomstick Bee

Always fun/frustrating trying to photograph insects in action and an Osmia bicolor flying in with stems to cover the formerly-empty snail shell in which she's provided food and laid an egg is one of the trickier ones. These are the best of about 100 attempts at Marston Vale Millennium Country Park today.

Spotting this action is fairly easy - just look for flying twigs attached to a dark blob. I now want to photograph a shell being provisioned...

Face of a Syrphus

Fiddled with the super-macro mode on my CX6 today and got this close to a Syrphus sp. Am still looking for a compact with better macro optics though. There's a gap in the market as a audit of everything on sale showed no compacts with a decent macro at the telephoto end of the range. Manufacturers only seem to care how close you can get the lens to the subject, but insects have personal space too...!

Skaters - 1, Rowers - 0

A pond skater feasting on a water boatman carcase in a pond at Rookery Pit north today.

Skaters have amazing eyes and great binocular vision. Must try for a sharper picture now I know...

Tetrix subulata f. bifasciata?

Have pondered whether this is Tetrix undulata or T. subulata. Am currently leaning towards it being the short-winged form T.subulata f. bifasciata, but happy to be proven wrong. Seen on the track at Rookery Pit north next to the railway today.

Old Warden parasites

My first Nomada sp. of the year on a Primrose in Old Warden...

... and also my first Bee Fly (Bombilius major), both species being bad news for solitary bees on which they are parasitic.

Old Warden Red Kite

My annual deviation into photographing something with feathers occurred today in Old Warden where a Red Kite was souring on the strong breezes. Sadly I'd decided to leave my long lens at home so they aren't very good, just small crops. And no, the first photo hasn't been rotated, it was caught by gust.

Priory Business Park Orchids

It's surprising what you can find when you visit somewhere a bit different. I happened to wander through Priory Business Park today (south of Priory Country Park, by the bypass) and looked at the verges. There were quite a few Bee Orchid rosettes within them. I don't suppose many will flower as the verges will probably be mown. Stannard Way's west verge north of roundabout had quite a lot, this being the largest that I spotted.

Altica sp.

It must be spring as these flea beetles (approx 5mm long) were getting frisky at Priory Country Park today. They keyed out as either Altica palustris or A.lythri (which are hard to separate). The green and blue ones are just different colour forms.

Collembola 2

My favourite Collembola of the day was this globular one, Dicyrtomina saudersii (thanks to Alan Outen for the ID), only about 2mm long, but the details are amazing. Look at the round mouth (I presume) in the final photo.

Collembola 1

Delved into the wonderful world of Collembola (springtails) today, bouncing around in my garden leaf litter. Here's a selection of what I found. Identifications have kindly been provided by Alan Outen. (Species 4 remains unidentified). Click any photo for larger view.

Species 1: Orchesella cincta

Species 2: Entomobrya intermedia

Species 3: Tomocerus vulgaris

Species 4:

Species 5: Orchesella villosa

Species 6: Pogonognathellus longicornis

One of the above species (I think), showing the spring tail.

My favourite globular species will be in the next post...