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Insects of the day

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  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    It's a type of sawfly https://www.naturespot.org.uk/species/giant-woodwasp  Same order of insects as wasps and hornets but totally harmless.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Still battling with identifying wasps in the garden. To even get close to an accurate ID you need four clear photos from different angles and the buggers usually don't sit still for a second. Today's wasp seems to be a Tree Wasp but for some reason it's completely missing a crucial yellow triangle mark under the wing. This ID guide has been really helpful if anyone else feels the need to chase wasps around their garden... http://www.eakringbirds.com/eakringbirds2/insectswaspsidentification.htm

    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    It's a dog eat dog world in the garden at the moment. Or more specifically a robber-fly eat predatory wasp world
    and a tree wasp eat fly world (kicking myself for never using a flash with this one). I thought it had caught a bee but it appears to be a bee-mimic fly of some kind. @Fire asked about the size of the mandibles and this kind of gives you an idea of what they do with them.


    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    You'd think a bug with eyebrows this hairy would have a common name. Heterotoma planicornis seems to be as good as it gets though. I had to evict it from a raspberry I wanted to eat.




    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    We did a moth trap last night. I had someone from the local Natural History group supply it and help identify moths.  I never knew we had such pretty moths.

  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Some lovely moths there. How did they go about identifying them out of interest? I record every moth I find in the garden with photos and it takes an age to sort them out, especially all the little beige ones. I'll probably not even look through most of them until the winter when I have more time.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    The lady who bought the trap with her had a lot of knowledge, a camera and a book. Most she could just identify. Any she couldn't straight off were photographed. Book consulted. One, a photo was sent to someone else to identify. There is a lot of knowledge out there to tap into.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    How many did you record in the end or is it still being worked out?
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    We did a moth trap last night. I had someone from the local Natural History group supply it and help identify moths.  I never knew we had such pretty moths. 

    Stunning moths

  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    A bit of a change from social wasps. I'd really hoped this was a nomad bee but I think it's some kind of mason wasp. As always the useful identifying marks didn't show on the photos :|

    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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