Oh! what a lovely pair...

 It must be spring!

I say this because it seems to be the one thing these days that spurs me on to create a fresh blog update.

in my defence, It has not been for the want of an appetite. More that my rapidly declining health has had other ideas on how I should spend my time. But now we have been blessed with another spring and here I am resplendent in my repaired eyesight thanks to cataract surgery, and I have new content to share.

So let's get to it...

What do all of these images have in common?

Whilst you are cogitating over that picture: I would like to add that despite Google's insistence, I shall not be using their new AI style features to help me create this entry.

I will definitely not be following their advice to 'Look for the 'G' button' either. I feel I've been down that road previously!

Maybe this will help you if you are struggling with the connection in the picture...

 Yes, PAIRS...I was talking about pairs (and not the pair you were imagining either)

Pairs like these...

There are over 300 species of Crane fly in the UK and so I can only guess at an identity here. I reckon one is Tipula species, and t'other Nephrotoma? But I really should research these things.

I'll return to my first pairing at some point during this update.

Pair number 2 consists of these two Damselflies...

These are female (top) and male (lower), Azure Damselflies. Coenagrion puella, if you want the scientific name. I think that's correct. But then I thought Ringo was the drummer in the Beatles and not a parking app!

I think this is another female Azure, and the second image is a male Common Blue Damselfly. The third is a male Variable Damselfly (well, it's a good enough name when you can't think of a better one?)

Back to pairs now. Do these make a proper pair?

Well I do believe they are both Caddisflies. One is most likely a Mottled sedge, and the other...isn't! The one on the far right is the Mottled sedge: not politically you understand!

They appeared in my moth trap recently. I had a disappointing amount of species that night, but here are a couple of interesting individuals...

A Buff-tip moth - Phalera bucephala

A Pale-Tussock moth (Calliteara-pudibunda)

I'll happily be corrected on my guess at an identity on this next critter. I'd like to think that it's at least an educated guess, but these days, who knows!

Back in the day, I kind of knew my way

I had clarity of thought, and wasn't afraid to say.

Then as senility began to raise its ugly head

my memory became that of a goldfish...one that was dead!

During the ensuing years I was mostly just muddled

now I find that I'm completely befuddled.

Here's the photograph...

It's a ladybird larva? No it isn't. It's a beetle larva of some description? Yes, it (probably) is. It's a Willow Leaf Beetle larva? no it isn't. It's a Green-dock Beetle larva: final answer.

I do know what this beauty is...

 This is Cassida nobilis: a Noble Tortoise Beetle. 

I've read that these beetles can alter the brightness of those fabulous, metallic stripes, by controlling fluid levels under the transparent cuticle (a layered exoskeleton that functions as both a skin and skeleton).

These are not at all common in my part of Kent and are more likely to be found in sandy areas or on chalky soil. I think this is only the second one I have ever found. 

Here is a distance shot, just to give you a better idea of size...

Something else that I haven't seen for at least three years, is one of these...

 

A Horned Treehopper - Centrotus cornutus

These are just amazing creatures. They are small sap-sucking insects and are relatives of the Leafhoppers but are famous for their thorn-like 'hats' or 'horns' which they use for camouflage. About 10mm in length.

There is just one other species of Treehopper in the UK: Gargara genistae which is similar in appearance, but doesn't have the horn (stop it!).

I suppose these next images could count as a pair? Oh yes, pairs: I must get back to alerting you to what my first pair referred to. I will do that right after these images...

I'm saying that they count as a pair because they are both plant bugs. The top one is Closterotomus-fulvomaculatus and what a mouthful that is! Its name I mean, not the bug itself.

The lower image is of Dryophilocoris-flavoquadrimaculatus, an even bigger mouthful?

I'm still not finding many plant bugs locally and so it was a treat to spot this Striped Oak Bug (Rhabdomiris striatellus).

Back to my lovely pair then! 

No: not those two. Although I may have something 'Ant' connected before this update ends. Nah, I meant these two...

They are in fact moth eggs that I discovered in local woodland and decided to observe to see what emerged. What did emerge looked like this...

Then became this...

And eventually became this...

Yes. A striking Coxcomb prominent moth larva. I won't bother with the scientific name; we've probably had enough of those with their highfalutin, over complicated names, that seem to use more syllables than a Maria Carey song! 

That throw-back of the head over the abdomen is not a yoga pose by the way. It's more what they do when they are alarmed. Which accounts for it's pose in this photo: I mean, fancy having my fizzog staring down the lens at ya.

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Here is the ant connection: along with the question; what do you think it's eating?

This is full zoom by the way, as I no longer have an extreme macro lens, so detail isn't all that great unfortunately...

I think we are nearing the end of this particular update...

However - you are not scared of spiders are you? 

Let's find out: if I hear you scream I'll know and will feel really bad for putting you through such torture...........maybe!

This is Marpissa muscosa, a Fencepost Jumping Spider. Looks big, right? Well, she is only around 14mm, so no need to wet your knickers! That's not why she has the word 'pissa' contained in her scientific name.

Here's a youngster (sub-adult) that I found at the same spot...

The inset picture shows you just how tiny this one is compared to an adult. 

I guess it'd be churlish of me to leave you with a Salticid, and so how about a Delphacid instead?

This is an even small insect called a Delphacid-bug. Most likely Ditropis pteridis. The only one to specialise on bracken. This one is a male and around 3mm.

JJ finds a Diamondback...

And so, where to begin? There is so much going on right now that it's difficult to decide on a pecking order. How about starting with the definition of bizarre?

The Oxford English Dictionary says this: 

ADJECTIVE: Very strange or unusual.

Well, that's one definition; here, in picture form, is my own...

And another specimen, photographed on the same day...

You've probably already worked out that these are not rare insects, by virtue of my finding two on one particular day. But I wouldn't mind betting that you've never seen one? You have? Damn! I really shouldn't gamble. You'll know then that these are nymphs of 'Eurhadina' species Leafhoppers.

According to the excellent British Bugs website, they are "Widespread and common on oak everywhere except the extreme north of Scoland." (Apologies Tristan B. But you do need to sort out that typo sometime soon.)

More strange hoppers? Certainly...

This one is 'Centrotus cornutus' and is one of only two species of Treehoppers here in the U.K. 

Interestingly, Tristan Bantock of British Bugs photographed one for his website the very same month as I did in 2009, and it was here in Kent too. Both his and my own photographs are HERE if you wanted to take a look, not right now though eh?

Hello! Hello! HELLO!!!

Yet more hoppers? Yes Siree Bob! (I do like a good idiom) and as we Brits are apt to proclaim: "I'm sure we can do this. In for a penny, in for a pound." Yes, I know that's more of a proverb; it was the previous...oh never mind. Let's crack on.

This green fella (or missy) is 'Cicadella viridis'. It is a female actually, because it's the females who are green (stop it!). Males are bla.....'of colour-ish', well, gotta stay woke don't ya? 

Just before we move on from hoppers; this last image (above) has reminded me that I have a rather exciting little story to share that comes from a friend in Canada. More of that soon, but for now, here's what the TV guys call a teaser...

Next up then is what's described as: A small predatory bug found commonly on a wide variety of plants across southern Britain, but favouring deciduous trees, particularly oak.

Well, it's actually a tiny nymph of that species...

How can I be sure that this is the nymph of that particular species? Well because, this is the adult insect that emerged from the last moult...

I guess I should tell you the species then, eh? It is 'Deraeocoris lutescens', a bug in the Miridae family.

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A similar story to this next creature: I found a tiny pupa of...something, in the garden...

I had an inkling (well, you can't beat a good inkle!) that it could be Lepidopteran, but beyond that, no clue. And so I kept it safe until whatever it was emerged.

You'd like to see what emerged right? Of course you would... 

It's a Diamondback! Sounds like it ought to be a snake really? Anyway, it is just a tiny moth. Tiny it may be, but it's known for its fecundity (well aren't we all?) and interestingly the host plants are all brassicas it seems. None of which I have in the garden this year. At least, I didn't when I found this.

I also had this rather nice moth in the garden. I haven't settled on a definitive identity yet, but I am tentatively going for Orange Swift...

Back to the story I alluded to earlier then. I have Cathy Rowcliffe to thank for this. Cathy lives in Burlington Ontario, and shared her fabulous video of a Cicada eclosing (emerging from its pupa) in her yard . We don't have Cicadas here in the UK: unless you count the New Forest Cicada, last heard of in 2000, and so it was a real treat to see this footage...

    

Brilliant Cathy, thanks so much for allowing me to share on the blog. I have no idea which species this will be, but keeping in mind that the Cicada life-cycle can be anything from one to seventeen years, you are not going to witness this event too often. 

I just love this little part where those big bug-eyes appear...

And the beauty of these totally fresh wings...

I guess I shouldn't make this update too much longer; you all have things to do, places to go, people to see. How about I share a couple of photos from an early morning photo shoot, when I was lucky enough to find a White-legged Damselfly covered in dew...

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Oh yes, as we are right at the end of this update, I'll share a spider too...

A Female Wasp Spider