"Bug" Photos

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Green Tiger Beetle, Cicindela campestris, The Burren, April 2011

Robber Fly, Asilidae family (True Flies, Diptera), with prey, Dordogne, August 2010
The Robber Fly lies in wait on a grass stalk for a prey insect to fly past.
Then it flies up and swiftly traps it in its jaws, using the hairs on its legs as a basket to sweep it up.
The stiff white bristles on the front of its head keep the prey from injuring its eyes.
The small whitish lollopop-shaped organ below the wings is a haltere, the reduced hindwing which works as an accelerometer.

Harvestman, Leiobunum rotundum, Uxbridge Moor, July 2010
OK, so it's not an insect, it's an opilionid arachnid, 4 legs each side; not a spider either, one-part body. Definitely a "bug", though.

And those long cylindrical War of the Worlds walking machine legs make even supermodels look positively short and fat.
Do you suppose that's where H. G. Wells got the idea for his story?

Strangalia maculata, a kind of 'wasp beetle', on Pignut, Aston Rowant, July 2010

Tiny iridescent green Chrysomelid leaf beetles on Spear Thistle, Cirsium vulgare, Aston Rowant, July 2010

Inch-Long Killer: Pompilid Spider-Hunting Wasp Anoplius infuscatus with her spider prey.

True Composite Image. Sandy heathland on Lower Greensand, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire. June 2010

Large wasp-patterned Sawfly, apparently Tenthredo (cf T. scrophulariae, the Figwort Sawfly) on Gooseberry leaves, London, April 2010.

The insect is presumably a female: each year it briefly visits the fruit bushes between April and June, probably to lay eggs.

Red Mason Bees Osmia rufa mating, London, April 2010. The female is larger and redder than the male.

Bloody-Nose Beetle Timarcha tenebricosa, Dordogne 2008 showing iridescence - greener above, bluer below.

Oil Beetle, Meloë proscarabeus, St Justinian's, Wales, May 2009

The Oil Beetle is slow and flightless; not surprisingly, like the Bloody-Nose Beetle, it is poisonous, exuding a foul yellow blood if threatened. It is one of the insects described at length by J. H. Fabre in his classic The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles; he recounts its bizarre life-history: it lays thousands of eggs. The larvae climb plants and wait for exactly the right species of bee to arrive; if they are lucky, they are taken to the bee's nest where they eat a bee larva and develop; otherwise, they perish.

Longhorn Beetle, metallic green with black spots (Cerambycidae), Dordogne, July 2009

Firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus, Dordogne, July 2009

Butterfly Eggs and Yellow Aphid on Great Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) leaf underside, Dordogne, July 2009

Scorpion Fly Panorpa communis: Female, Dordogne, July 2009; Male, Aston Rowant, July 2010

The last 4 segments of her abdomen are telescopic, retractable like the legs of a tripod.
The end of the male's abdomen is swollen and held like a scorpion's tail above the body. Both have a long 'beak'.

Great Green Bush Cricket Tettigonia viridissima, Dordogne, July 2009

The Latin name of this wonderful insect means roughly "The greenest chirper": "Tetti-" is onomatopoeic for the loud chirp made by this beautiful cryptically-coloured insect. It is a weak jumper, preferring to scramble or fly ̶ or to sit still and rely on its camouflage.

Male Stag Beetle Lucanus cervus, London, June 2007

This fine specimen hatched from the Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) trunk which had lain in the garden for 8 years.

Mating Pair of Italian Striped-Bugs Graphosoma italicum, Dordogne, July 2007;
matching fellow in red mediaeval Italian doublet at Annie's Costumes, explaining the specific name 'italicum'

Bizarre Camouflaged Bug (Hemiptera, presumably wingless) with sawdust or bits of lichen, Dordogne 2009 and 2008.

Shield-Bugs Palomena prasina mating on Tayberry, London, June 2009

Mating Harlequin Ladybirds Harmonia axyridis on Redcurrant leaf, London, April 2009

A marvellously cryptic grasshopper on chalk pebbles, Dordogne, August 2010
When fully mature the wings extend further, and the insect half-jumps, half-flies with a confusing burst of blue wings, only to disappear instantly as it lands.