An Orange ladybird has 12-16 spots...whilst a 16-spot ladybird has 13-18 spots, does that make any sense?

Having recently introduced some random logs to the garden, in order to both provide a low feeding perch for the birds and to encourage more bugs, they have already started to pay dividends...

This rather large ground beetle was scurrying around one morning and with patience, I managed a few shots. As usual with these Carabid beetles, I can't be certain of an ID...

An Orange Ladybird (Halyzia 16-guttata)

Also known as Halyzia sedecimguttata. This ladybird was tucked away on one of the evergreen shrubs in the garden. The species usually sports 16 white spots, although it can be as few as 12 and is one of the ladybirds that gets attracted to the light of my moth trap in summer.

We've had some hard frosts and even a little snow of late and so the bug finds have been few, but I did get out one morning to take some pictures of the ice etc..

    

It seems that I really need to add a small tree of some description to the back garden, if I want to get as many species of wild birds visiting as possible. Most aren't keen on feeding in the open. Until that happens, I've placed a couple of feeders in the tree beside our front drive and in no time at all, have had good numbers of visitors that include these amazing Goldfinches...

 The usual reminder here that these videos won't appear in the e-mail version of this update-you will need to view online.

Amongst the ground feeding birds was this lovely Dunnock...

They are quite well camouflaged once they get into the leaf litter...

The Blue tits and Great tits have also been enjoying the sunflower hearts...

You are supposed to be able to tell in the summer months, how many yellowy-green caterpillars a tit has eaten by the yellowness of the male blue tit's breast.

They were certainly having a good feed of seeds and have been regularly emptying the feeder in less than a day; I even spotted one checking out one of the nest boxes...

Amazingly, there are still aphids in the garden too...

I suppose it is conceivable that this is the very same snail-eating beetle I found in the garden a while back? 

Silpha atrata

Silpha atrata 

Erm...what else have I come across in the garden since my last update? Well there was this rather beautiful moth cocoon...

Again I couldn't say with any certainty which moth this might be but I aim to find out. I have placed it in a small open-top container in a quiet corner, so that I can keep tabs on how it is doing come springtime.

I do know what this one is though; a butterfly pupa this time-the pupa or chrysalis of an Orange-tip butterfly in fact...

You can see in this photograph that the silk girdle has been broken; probably by the strong winds and rough weather we have had. However, the cremaster (that little dome between the stem and the pupa) is still holding the pupa fast against the twig and so I think all is well.

Macro photography offers huge rewards and satisfaction and a real sense of achievement when things are going well, but one of the curses of macro-photography is undoubtedly sensor dust. It is almost an occupational hazard that we all have to confront at some time and that time is now for me...

  

Cleaning your camera's sensor can be an expensive business with most stores charging an average of £50 per clean. For most jobs, these quality swabs are the alternative I choose to use: Costing me around £23 including delivery, they should be enough for 4 sensor cleans. That's my job sorted for this afternoon then...

Until the next time...

Shark's fin aphids...

It doesn't seem possible but I have already been writing for Magnet magazine for a year and have had 12 articles published by them. I'm looking forward to next year and the opportunity to inform and maybe interest more people in the wonderful world of invertebrates...

Today (December 15th) has been the first time the stars have aligned and everything seemed right for a bug-walk. I had the free time, the weather was set fair and I was interested to see if anything at all was still around. It didn't turn out to be one of those days when you could have done with a larger SD card in the camera to cope with all of the finds, but even so, for a mid-December day, I was pleasantly surprised...

Psyllobora 22-punctata

This little 22-spot ladybird was the first thing I found-it is only around 3-4mm in length but quite distinctive. It feeds on mildew.

There were a few hoppers around too...

I think this one pictured above may be Stenocranus species (Delphacidae) but wouldn't know which one. I was happy with my attempts to photograph the next one before it made its escape-that is until I noticed the eye colour and realised that it had actually expired...

Philaenus spumarius (Common froghopper)

Idiocerus species (maybe vittifrons)

Empoascini ?

Zygina species

I found this beetle out in the open for a change, I have come across these several times but always concealed under wood or moss. Sometimes called snail beetles after their habit of making lunch out of any unsuspecting gastropod. I know these also come in brown, as I once found one myself.

The black snail beetle (Silpha atrata)

It's springtail time again in the garden and just by checking under fallen leaves I found half a dozen species...

Dicyrtromina minuta ?

I've plumped for Dicyrtomina minuta on this one but as the markings on its rump are quite narrow, it could be D.saundersi I guess? Actually, looking again I think saundersi is probably right looking at the antennae -I think it is probably a juvenile as the head still seems quite large, when compared to the body.

Genus nov.2 sp. nov. 

This one (above) is a non native species and again was spotted in the garden. These seem to prefer damp and mild conditions, with most of my sightings being early in the day when they are out foraging.

The last one for now is this green(ish) specimen...

Sminthurus viridus

Now that mother nature is shutting down for winter, you do need to look a little harder for most bugs and insects, but that's what keeps me interested. Often I enjoy the hunt as much, if not more than the capture, and by capture I mean photographically, not literally. A lot of leaf turning is involved as well as examination of sundry fallen branches and decomposing logs. That's fine as long as you are alone, it can get tricky to explain to bemused passersby though...

When I saw this little group I thought at first they could be aphids. Closer examination revealed the lack of cornicles (the two small protruding tubes at the end of the abdomen) and so I then thought perhaps barkfly/louse? However I don't think all aphids have cornicles and so I am still undecided. As usual with identifying my finds, I settle on something then right away talk myself out of it-for example, the head and antennae look much closer to barkfly here....but...just doesn't seem right somehow?

Elasmucha grisea

By turning yet another leaf I came across this parent bug. No doubt hibernating or preparing to do so. They do overwinter as adults and teneral adults can be found as late as October.

A Pseudoscorpion

This time it was a clay pot that got upturned in the search for bugs. A lot of these creatures are so small that you need to allow your eyes time to adjust before deciding there's nothing of note to be seen. This is around 3mm in length and once disturbed moved quite fast, both forwards and backwards.

They are of course not scorpions at all but related to spiders (arachnids) but look like scorpions without the stinging tail. Those long pincers are used to trap prey and then inject it with venom.

Amazing isn't it that these have been around for at least 180 million years, and yet I'm betting you won't ever have seen one? Not that I'm suggesting you are that old! Oh and, there are exceptions as always, I'm sure my macro colleges will know all about them.

Whilst scrabbling around under lumps of soggy wood I found this rather interesting slime mould.

This one comes under the heading of other things I have found whilst searching for springtails. It's one of the hoverfly larvae but I couldn't say exactly which one.


My last picture for this update and probably for this year, it is this willow aphid. I was amazed to find them still doing well after several hard frosts but they do appear to be coping quite well...

Fascinating little things and I particularly like that sharks fin protruding from the abdomen.

As we are so close to the end of another year of blogging, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has taken the time to read these updates, and not only supported me, but also commented in such a wonderful and positive fashion. Next year will be the fifth year of JJ's Photographic Blog and I look forward to sharing whatever that brings, with you.

Thanks again, without you, the blog is nothing.

JJ.