I discovered this little brightly coloured ladybird on my garden hose pipe. It is about 3–4mm long. This is one of three species of yellow ladybird in the UK, and it has the brightest yellow of the three. It feeds on mildews as opposed to greenfly.
Feel free to click to enlarge and click again to get even closer.
June 2019, front garden, South Staffordshire, England © Pete Hillman.
It is not just taking in the whole of the image and in what your eyes perceive within it, but it is all those tiny details when you look really close, and how your imagination perceives them … and where that imagination leads you to …
Deep in the woods, June 2019, South Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Comibaena bajularia – A beautifully green coloured moth with a wingspan of 23-27mm. It is mainly found in southern England and Wales in deciduous woodland where the larvae feed on the leaves of oaks. It can be seen June to July. A resident species which is local in well established woodland.
Attracted to light, rear garden, June 2019. Nikon D7200 © Peter Hillman.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
These are barely visible with the naked eye. I only spotted them by closely looking at the leaves of my crabapple to see them scurrying over the surface, although they can occur on most vegetation. The fine hairs on the leaves must be like grass to them. Even with the Raynox 250 clipped to the end of my Sigma 105mm macro lens cranked up to the max magnification you still have to crop a fair bit to get close and see how cute these little springtails are. And they do have a spring in them too! This is the yellow form repandus. I have featured the rarer purple plum coloured one before, but you can have another look-see below.
June 2019, rear garden, South Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
… but if you want to double click on the image, well … you have been warned …
They just love the sweet flowering spindle.
June 2019, rear garden, South Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer … only if you want to look her in her many eyes!
This is the crab spider Misumena vatia, and a lovely female on the edge of one of my flowerpots.
June 2019, rear garden, South Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
I haven’t seen any of these visit for the past few years, so it is always a pleasure when they do.
June 2019, rear garden, South Staffordshire, England
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
There appears to be quite a few of these around this year in the garden.
June 2019, rear garden, South Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Garden Snail (Cornu aspersum), July 2016, rear garden, South Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
Swollen- thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis), June 2019, local field, South Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis), June 2019, on plant pot, rear garden, South Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
June 2019, local field, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
Meet Lucilia sericata, a brighly polished-looking fly. This one has rather tattered wings.
June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
A sweat bee snared by a Goldenrod Spider (Misumena vatia). June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Feeding time with Calliphora vicina – Bluebottle Fly. You can see why you don’t want them landing in your sugar bowl!
Do not click and click again to enlarge!
June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
Drone Fly Eristalis tenax, June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
Bluebottle Fly Calliphora vicina June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
Bluebottle Fly Calliphora vicina June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis larva, June 2019, local woodland margin, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis f succinea) June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
You can see where the creators of the movie of the same name may have got their inspiration for the monster. This is the larva of a lacewing, and they are ferocious hunters of aphids.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
June 2019, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
June 2019, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
It is always a joy to see the Dog Rose Rosa canina on my walks through the local woods. It is a sign that summer is not too far away.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
June 2019, local woodland margin, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
… well it’s not a Red-tailed Bumblebee which it is trying to mimic. It is a hoverfly called the Narcissus Bulb Fly Merodon equestris, also known as the Greater Bulb Fly. It knew the rain was on its way and had found a cosy covering under some spindle leaves.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
After a heavy night’s rain throw my patio windowpane. June 2019, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Blackbird singing out the day from a lofty perch …
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Dock Bug Coreus marginatus – also called the Squashbug.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
June 2019, woodland margin, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Greater Celandine Chelidonium majus, June 2019, local woodland margin, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
I always enjoy coming across these flower beetles either in the garden or out on my walks. It is called the Swollen- thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, and you can definately see why. It is the male who has the large bulging thighs. It is those metallic shiny greens I really like.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
June 2019, woodland margin, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
It is quite amazing what you can find by lifting a leaf in the backyard and looking hard. This tiny little Snout Mite scurried about in circles and was hell to try and photo before it disappeared down a crack in a wall. This was the best image I got, and how strange it is. It belongs to a family called Bdellidae which are amongst the first mites ever to be described. They are predatory mites which feed on other arthropods, and inhabit soil, leaf litter and leaves. They come under the same class as spiders – Arachnida – for they have eight legs, and the order Trombidiidae – mites. You can see how tiny it is for it has one leg on some dried snail excrement. Talk about putting your foot in it!
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
In June 2016 I began blogging here on WordPress, and I am so grateful to have been able to interact with so many wonderfully creative and talented people from all walks of life and from all over this amazing Blue World of ours. I would just like to say a big thank you to you all, for your generosity in all that you share and do to make this such an interesting and beautiful journey!
Because I love macro so much I am sharing some of my closest and most personal favourite photos … and why I choose a mushroom theme because it is a world we do not see everyday. To me it is a magical world, a fantasy world of the micro, almost like another dimension right under our feet. They can also be quite challenging worlds to capture, but the bigger the challenge the bigger the rewards. I do hope you enjoy fellow bloggers!
Earwig Forficula auricularia. I think this may be a young female which I found under the lid of my green recyling bin. I always try to remember to check, especially after doing a spot of gardening, just in case anything gets thrown in amongst the garden trimmings.
Click and click again on the images to get that little bit closer …
June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) May 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Mint Moth (Pyrausta aurata) – Over the last three years since my garden pond’s inception it has attacted some interesting and beautiful forms of wildlife. Growing Water Mint attracts these attractively coloured little micro moths. The adult moths lay ther eggs on the plants and the hatching caterpillars feed on the leaves.
Rear garden, May 2019. Nikon D7200 © Peter Hillman.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer …
Hardy geranium. June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
I found a number of these by their egg cases not long having hatched on my crabapple tree at the bottom of the garden. They are ladybird larvae, first instar. They will go through four stages of moulting before pupating to become the brightly coloured adult beetle we all know.
June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Believe it or not this is the same species of snail which I posted previously. The shells can be quite variable.
White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis) June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Yes, when it rains these all come out to play … or eat my garden to the ground. I really like the shell colours and patterns on these.
White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis) June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Nature Journeys 