The 600

Posted in Hoverflies, InsectsTagged , , ,

x3 images. Double click to enlarge.

This is the 600th insect species I have uploaded on Nature Journeys, and what a bright and beautiful one it is, too.

It is a fly, a hoverfly called Epistrophe grossulariae. It prefers woodland edges, meadows and wetalnd areas where it will feed on the nectar from flowers. The larvae are aphidophagous – feeding on aphids.

46 thoughts on “The 600”

    1. Many thanks, Mike! It was a muddy knees job … but sometimes you have to make scarifices to get the shot as you know all too well 🙂

      Like

      Reply

    1. Thank you, Steve. Sometimes you get lucky with these. I find they can be quite nervous as you approach them and they zoom off, but this one was intent on feeding.

      Like

      Reply

      1. I’ve found the same, Pete. You have to get them while they are drunk on nectar. LOL Btw, I neglected to congratulate you on 600 species. I am not sure how many I’ve got here in the yard but I am sure it is nowhere near 600. Nicely done.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Thanks again, Steve. I still have a lot of stuff to go through and get ids on properly, and of course there are the new and exciting discoveries, so always in my element 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  7. This is an especially pretty one. Even though they’re so small, in some ways they’re more approachable than dragonflies — at least, they are if we’re lucky!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Yes, luck and how intent they are in feeding, which these were. They knew I was there up close, but I guess they saw no threat in me and they were hungry! 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  9. I don’t know that I have seen all 600, but I have learned so much from those that I have seen since I discovered your excellent photos and information! I think we are all looking forward to the next 600!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  12. I cannot resist this:

    When can their glory fade?
    O the wild charge they made!
    All the world wonder’d.
    Honor the charge they made!
    Honor the Light Brigade,
    Noble six hundred!

    Quite a different six hundred, yet you are nobly bringing us closer to the small yet far from insignificant creatures of our world. Congratulations!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Many thanks, Julie! I really appreciate that 🙂 Yes, many hoverfly species larvae consujme aphids, so area a welcome friend in the garden 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Your thoughts ...

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.