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~ a celebration of nature

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Tag Archives: insects

218/365 Hopalong grasshopper

06 Tuesday Aug 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British insects, Common field grasshopper, grasshopper, insects, St Augustine's Church

I spotted this Common field grasshopper sitting on a gravestone in St Augustine’s churchyard yesterday. I see a huge number of grasshoppers and crickets but usually only as they’re hopping rapidly away from me. So, I was intrigued as to why this one didn’t jump away.

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Looking closer, I noticed it had suffered some damage along its right side and had lost its large back leg on that side, so it was no longer able to leap. Luckily, it was still able to scuttle off into the grass – otherwise, it would have been a sitting target for a hungry bird, and that might well be how it got injured in the first place.

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212/365 The pollinators

31 Wednesday Jul 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British insects, insect pollinators, insects, insects on umbellifers, pollination, umbellifers

190731 pollinators

It seems unbelievable to me that some people still think that bees – in particular, honey bees, which are essentially a farmed species – are the only insects that pollinate flowers. You have only to look at a particular type of flower – in this case, umbellifers – to see the wide range of insects that visit and feed on them. And each of these little creatures gets covered in pollen while feeding so, when they fly on to the next flower, they are automatically contributing to flower pollination.

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95/365 Braving the weather

05 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, spring

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British insects, bumblebee, flies, hoverfly, insects, ladybird

I only managed to grab an hour’s walk today, once again dodging the rain showers that have been rolling in throughout the day. I thought I might blog about the wild garlic that’s covering every inch of the wilder areas in Penarth’s Alexandra Park but decided it would be better to wait until the flowers are at their peak as that would make for better photos. Then, as I was checking out the garlic and taking a few shots, my eye was caught by the number of insects sitting on their leaves, basking in the fleeting patches of sunshine, braving the weather on this mostly grey wet day. So here they are …

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Practising stealth

07 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, nature photography

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, British insects, insects, practising macro photography

For day 7 of #30DaysWild I decided to spend a couple of hours practising my stealth tactics during a walk along the coastal path from Penarth to Lavernock. Sometimes I photograph wildlife with my DSLR camera but I also have a point-and-shoot camera with a macro feature that is good for capturing close-up detail. The only trouble is that you need to get the camera as close as possible to your subject – and I am talking close – no more than a couple of inches away. As you might imagine, this tends to freak out and frighten off a lot of creatures, but I find that if I approach slowly, watch the light and shadow, make no noise, then I can often get very close. Here are the ones I didn’t freak out or frighten off today. I think I did quite well.

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Praying or preying?

03 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#WorldWildlifeWednesday, insects, Mantids, Praying mantis, Praying mantis Cambodia, Praying mantis New Zealand, Preying mantis

The correct name for this insect is Praying mantis (or, in fact, Praying mantid as my photos were taken in New Zealand (above) and Cambodia (below) and I’m not sure which species these are), the word ‘praying’ coming from its stance – with its large front legs bent and resting together, the insect looks like it’s praying. However, the word ‘preying’ seems equally appropriate for the mantis as it’s a formidable hunter.

170503 Praying mantis New Zealand

Mantids are masters of camouflage and use this ability to change their colouration to blend in with their surroundings, partly as a way to avoid being eaten by their predators but also, as they are mostly ambush predators themselves, as a way to more easily capture their own victims. They are also masters of the rapid pounce and their diet includes living insects like flies and aphids, crickets, moths, grasshoppers and even cockroaches.

170503 Praying mantis Cambodia

But wait, there’s more. The Praying mantis can also be cannibalistic. When food is scarce, they will eat their own kind, though male mantids are most at risk from the females at mating time. It seems hungry females have a tendency to eat their mates if the males don’t dismount and run away as rapidly as possible after copulation.

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Random creatures of Barry

24 Monday Apr 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Barry, Crab spider, Dock bug, Garden snails, Glamorgan Botany Group, Grene shieldbug, hoverflies, insects, ladybirds, Orange-tip butterfly, slow-worm

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I spent a wonderful day on Saturday exploring and examining some of the town of Barry’s wilder green spaces with members of the Glamorgan Botany Group. But, of course, you can’t spend a whole day looking at plants without also seeing an awful lot of the critters that live on those plants and I admit to being a trifle distracted at times … by a sunshine-yellow Crab spider, by fluttering butterflies and buzzing hoverflies, by plentiful dock and shield bugs, by the sad sight of a dead Slow-worm. Some of the lovely old stone houses and churches we passed were pretty cool too!

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Signs of Spring, 3

25 Saturday Mar 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird, nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

bees, butterflies, flies, hoverflies, insects, insects in springtime, ladybird, shieldbugs, Spring has sprung

You know Spring has well and truly arrived when the insects start appearing in reasonable quantities so, judging by the numbers of insects I’ve seen on my walks over the past two days, I would say Spring has most definitely sprung, wouldn’t you?

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Slater, woodlouse or chiggy pig?

10 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, nature photography

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

cemetery, crustaceans, insects, slater, woodlouse

As I was walking through my local cemetery today, I spotted a very thick, very wet newspaper lying on a fallen tree and I simply couldn’t resist taking a peek underneath. These are what I found, Common shiny woodlice (Oniscus asellus), one of the 45 (yes, 45!) native or naturalised species of woodlice in Britain.

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Did you know:

  • A woodlouse has fourteen jointed limbs, and breathes using lungs in its rear legs.
  • Although it’s a crustacean (like the oh-so-tasty lobsters and crabs), a woodlouse tastes like strong urine. I wonder who the crazy person was who discovered that interesting fact!
  • Just like earthworms, woodlice are good for the garden because they produce compost, aerate the soil and help control pests.
  • Woodlice prefer damp places because they lose a lot of moisture through excretion (plenty of evidence of that to be seen in my photos!).
  • In New Zealand it’s called a slater; in Reading, England it’s a cheeselog; in Devon it’s a chiggy pig; and in Cornwall it goes by the name of gramersow. Do you have a special name for this little critter? Let me know in the comments below.

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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