Lmst

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Also enjoying the sunshine up at 570 metres at @mpi_astro on the Königstuhl, this small beetle.

Likely a flea beetle (genus Psylliodes) thanks to its chunky thighs, but am not sure beyond that.

Possibly P. napi given overall similarities or P. chrysocephela, which is common, but both are associated with Brassicaceae, of which there aren't many atop this mountain 🤨

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A small blue-green metallic beetle seen on a blue-grey concrete wall. The wing cases have many small dints and the legs are orange, apart from the thick hind femora which are much darker.

Just to confirm yesterday's sighting, a pair of peacock butterflies (Aglais io; Tagpfauenauge in 🇩🇪) were out again today in the warm sunshine, feeding off some early flowers.

Here's one of them soaking up the photons on some ivy. They tend to be among the earliest butterflies to emerge after wintering-over.

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A peacock butterfly with its characteristic multiple "eye" markings on its wings sitting on some green ivy in the sunshine.

I’m afraid that this wee beast didn’t make it through the winter.

It did manage to climb up the inside of a window overnight, but appears to have expired there.

The M-shaped marking on the head suggests that it’s a harlequin or Asian ladybird (Harmonia axyridis). Their patterns are highly variable, this one with just two small side spots.

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A close up picture of a ladybird on a piece of printed paper. The body is all red with just two small black side spots, but it is also quite rough, perhaps decayed. The head is white with an M-shaped pattern of black patches characteristic of the harlequin ladybird.

Late afternoon sunshine brought out some small black flies to warm themselves 🌞

The three-spotted one is a cereal fly (Geomyza tripunctata; Glänzende Schwingfliege in 🇩🇪), & the single-spotted one is a lesser dung fly (Sepsis fulgens; Glänzende Schwingfliege in 🇩🇪).

I'm sure I'll get better pictures of both later in the year, but these will do for February 🤷‍♂️

A small back fly seen from behind sitting on the tip of a green ivy leaf. The fly has bright red eyes set into an orange head, with the thorax behind dark grey with black bristles. The abdomen is black and tapering, with thin brown bands at the end of each segment. The legs are mostly brown with some black. The wings are translucent grey with a characteristic set of three black-brown spots on each.

A small back fly seen from the front sitting on the tip of a green ivy leaf. The fly has bright red eyes set into an orange head, with the thorax behind dark grey with black bristles. The legs are mostly brown with some black. The wings are translucent grey with a characteristic set of three black-brown spots on each. The wings are held up high, as commonly seen with this species.

A small back fly seen from above sitting on fuzzy dead brown leaf. The fly has dark red eyes set into a black head, with the thorax behind shiny and black. bristles. The abdomen is black and tapering. The legs are black towards the top, turning dark brown lower down. The wings are clear with a single black-brown spot near the end of each. The wings are folded together on the abdomen.

Seek & ye shall find ... even if it will take a while & ye shall also get cold 🥶

Little about in the garden today, apart from a few skittering spiders & an omnipresent firebug.

Plus this wintering-over native shield bug, Holcostethus sphacelatus (Offener Lorch in 🇩🇪).

Easily confused with H. albipes, but they're only found around the Mediterranean & that's not here 😬

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A shield bug seen from above, sitting on an ivy leaf. The bug is mostly brown with some reddish tints on the side of the wing cases and the front of the pronutum. There is a straight white edge to the front sides of the pronutum, and black and white checkerboard around the fringes of the abdomen. The eyes are white and red, and the antennae are mostly black with white bands near the joints. There is a white C-shape at the base of the scutellum.

Doubly invasive 😬

The weather hasn't been great for insect photography of late, which may be why I found this brown marmorated shield bug (Halyomorpha halys) in the house today, not the garden.

They're from Asia & started appearing in both Europe & North America in the late 1990s, transported via shipping.

It's in the garden now – I'm ambivalent about its chances 🤷‍♂️

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A close-up photo of a brown shield bug, seen from above on a sheet of white paper, illuminated partly by my phone light, showing strong shadows. It has the characteristic mottled brown pattern with darker brown where its wings are showing, and a light and dark checkerboard rim around the abdomen. There are some some splotches of red behind the main eyes and on the shoulders. It has some tangled fibres attached to its rear feet.

Although yesterday's snow has gone already, it's hardly prime insect weather yet 🤷‍♂️

The only thing I saw on my daily garden patrol was this little fly. It was awkward to photograph, but by eye, the abdomen under those lovely iridescent wings was orange.

Best guess is that it's in the Tephroclamys genus, either T. tarsalis or T. rufiventris, both common in winter in DE 🇩🇪

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A small fly sitting on a dead brown leaf, seen from above. The wings are folded and iridescent, while the thorax is grey with lighter longitudinal stripes and black bristles. The compound eyes are brick red and three black ocelli are seen behind. The eyes are surrounded by a light grey region with black bristles, and with an orange patch at the front of the head behind the orange antennae.

Been a while since I posted one of my images. Saw lots of signs of spring today which had me longing for summer, here's one from summer's end 2025. #ButterflyPhotography #MacroPhotography #CommaButterfly #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography #ScottishWildlife #GardeningForWildlife #AutumnFlowers #MichaelmasDaisy #AltText #InsectsOfMastodon

Firebugs are easily ID'd thanks to their distinctive markings.

The same isn't true of another of today's insects. Apple's Photos claims it's in the Brachyopa genus, but I'm more taken with iNaturalist's suggestion of Tribe Tetanocerini, part of the marsh fly family, Sciomyzidae.

Even then, searching many pictures, I can't find an exact match – any ideas? 🤨

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A small fly seen side-on perched facing downwards on a green leaf. The fly has large brick red eyes, well separated, a grey face, and red antennae & mouth. The back of the thorax is grey with black bristles, but turns redder on the sides. The abdomen is red on top, grey underneath, again with lots of smaller black bristles. The front legs are mostly grey, while the middle and hind ones are dark red again.

Yet more insects out in the warmer & sunnier weather today 🌞

First, a true legend of our garden: the European firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus).

We've had loads of them year-round, & even on the worst days when no other insects are about, look carefully & you'll find some firebugs 🔥

Amazingly resilient 🙇‍♂️

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A small bug sitting on a green ivy leaf in the sunshine. The bug has brick red compound eyes set in a black face, while the body is bright red with distinctive black markings. The legs are black.

Bonus bug from this afternoon: a gnat, very likely in the Trichocera genus, & quite possibly a winter gnat, T. annulata.

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A small gnat perched on o green leaf, seen side on. The background is also yellow green and out of focus. The gnat is mostly brown grey.

Warmer temperatures & welcome sunshine have brought out some garden friends that survived the snow & ice, including spiders & fire bugs 🙂

Also, two new species for me. The first is very likely a cereal fly (Geomyza tripunctata), but the other less certain: best guess is a leafhopper larva, Penthimia nigra. The adults are very distinctive, so I'll keep an eye out in spring.

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A small fly sitting on a dead brown leaf in sunshine, seen from above. The fly has brick red eyes and a bristly, grey thorax, with a segmented shiny black abdomen also with some hairs. The wings are semi-translucent and grey, with three main dark spots on each one. There is a smaller fourth brown spot near the wing root.

A small orange brown insect seen from above on a dead brown leaf, in sunshine. The head of the insect is hidden, but the thorax and abdomen are visible. There is a lateral line of partly black and white markings at the base of the former, while the latter has a broad longitudinal stripe which is lighter cream coloured. The rest of the abdomen is darker and speckled, with a reddish lateral striped at the end of each segment. Spines can be seen along one of the legs.

A cold flat afternoon again, after some wan sunshine earlier in the day.

I spotted this little one sheltering among some leaves, & after I took a few photos, it crawled off sluggishly back under cover, hoping to survive hibernation over the winter.

It's a common or seven-spot ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), & surprisingly another new addition to my list for 2025.

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A bright red ladybird with seven black spots on its back, and two white patches just behind its black head. Seen sitting on a wet and brown dead leaf.

And here's a bonus picture of an ant-mimicking lesser dung fly (Sepsis fulgens), a few of which were also strutting around among the dead leaves this afternoon.

Not a new species, but as iNaturalist has no observations of them in Germany later than September, I thought I'd post this here & there. Heidelberg is a pretty warm place, it seems.

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A small black fly with red eyes, sitting in sunshine on a dead brown leaf. The wings are stuck up into the air as is typical of this species.

Warm sunshine again today, bringing out some insects to bask, including lots of firebugs & nursery spiders, & also this rather sleepy wasp 🐝

The head & body markings make it pretty clear that it's a common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) & not a German one (Vespula germanica) 👍

And thus another newly photographed species for me in 2025, although I must've seen them a million times 🤷‍♂️

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A close up of a yellow and black wasp sitting in sunshine on some dead brown leaves.

One of the most common insect families in our garden & little known to me before this year are the Rhopalids, or scentless plant bugs.

Several were out yesterday in the mid-December sunshine. I took some poor photos 🤷‍♂️ but am not really sure of the IDs.

All three look different, but my best guess for that they're all Stictopleurus punctatonervosus, the banded rhopalid.

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A close up photo of a small insect sitting on a dead brown leaf, in sunshine. The body is a mix of reddish-orange with black, and lots of little dimples on the pronutum. The legs are also reddish-orange speckled with black. The wings are very shiny in the light, and there is a hint checkerboard markings down the edge of the abdomen.

A close up photo of a small insect sitting on a dead brown leaf, in sunshine. The dominant colour is black with some orange edging and lots of little dimples on the pronutum. The legs are also mostly black. The wings are very shiny in the light and slightly separated, and there is a hint of checkerboard markings down the edge of the abdomen.

A close up photo of a small insect sitting on a dead brown leaf, in sunshine. The body is a mix of black with some cream-red, and lots of little dimples on the pronutum. The wings are golden, but also transparent at this angle, showing a black and gold abdomen underneath, although not clearly enough to see the full pattern.

The nice brown marmorated stink bug is still alive after a week and still crawling around the same place. We called it Wörner. 🤣

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug

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A brown marmorated stink bug sitting on an orange.

That same marmorated stink bug has moved to the wall and is sitting there now.

A brown marmorated stink bug. I found this but crawling on a lamp yesterday. 🤣

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug

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The brown marmorated stink bug sitting on a lamp shade, side view.

The brown marmorated stink bug sitting on the lamp shade.

The brown marmorated stink bug. The front view look almost threatening.

The brown marmorated stink bug. The front view looks even more threatening.

And finally for now, definitely another new species, although quite which exactly ... 😬

This small black fellow seems fairly likely to be a spiny-legged rove beetle of the Oxytelinae sub-family, but beyond that, it's hard.

iNaturalist prefers Anotylus rugosus, but also suggests the very similar Cophrophilus striatulus 🤨

Based on the pictures, I slightly favour the former 🤷‍♂️

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A shiny black insect seen side on and from above, standing on a dead flower. The insect has medium-sized antennae with many individual segments. The body is shiny, and a glimpse of the iridescent wings can be seen, not quite folded up under the wing cases. The many-segmented abdomen is curved upwards. The legs are dark near the top, orange brown lower down.

A shiny black insect seen side on and from above, leaning out from a dead flower. The insect has medium-sized antennae with many individual segments. The body is shiny, and the many-segmented abdomen is held down in this shot. The legs are dark near the top, orange brown lower down.

A shiny black insect seen head on, standing a dead flower. The head and eyes are out of focus, but the black wing casings are open and the wings extended – the insect took off and flew away immediately after this shot was taken. The legs are dark near the top, orange brown lower down.

Now speaking of gnats, I took this picture a few minutes before the Trichocera ones & initially thought it was the same species 🤨

But the distinctive abdomen shape of this one is quite different.

The best guess that iNaturalist can come up with is the Bolitophila genus, but I can't immediately narrow it down to any of the ~40 species found in the Palearctic 🤷‍♂️

Anyone?

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