Re: Mother Bugger !!!

by **cantina_patron** Wed Mar 30, 2016 5:47 pm

That sounds like a reasonable explanation to me James, as their distinctive large eyes indicate that their vision is far better than most spiders. The next time I come across one in my garden I'll attempt to photograph it. Jumping spiders & crab spiders are among my favorites.

by **ourchickenshack** Mon Apr 04, 2016 5:13 am

The critters are starting to come out ...

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These next 2 were quite small , probably 1/4" or less ...

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by **cantina_patron** Wed Apr 06, 2016 8:22 pm

Nice selection of mini beasts James. Do you know what type of wasp that is? Cool that you photographed it aparently in the process of making a nest.

by **ourchickenshack** Wed Apr 06, 2016 8:38 pm

I believe they are just called Red Wasps in general but , after looking , it seems there are several slightly different looking species that get lumped into the same category scratch

It's in the Polistes genus I think ?

I'll go out and check the nest building progress later - it's building it right over our back door buzzing

by **cantina_patron** Wed Apr 06, 2016 8:55 pm

I suspected the wasp might have been in the eaves of one of your properties. Hopefully it won't cause problems for you if it happens to be a colonial species & stings. Like you I love my wildlife large or small and do my best to encourage / support it.

by **ourchickenshack** Mon Apr 11, 2016 4:21 am

cantina_patron wrote:I suspected the wasp might have been in the eaves of one of your properties. Hopefully it won't cause problems for you if it happens to be a colonial species & stings. Like you I love my wildlife large or small and do my best to encourage / support it.

Unfortunately the little bastard stung me today when I was coming in our backdoor . As much as I hated to I knocked down the nest afterwards - hopefully it will find a better spot to rebuild . Unlike honey bees and many other species , the red wasps we have around here can get very aggressive any time you just get near their nests .

here's a weird little bug I found today (maybe 1/4" long) ...

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by **cantina_patron** Mon Apr 11, 2016 12:17 pm

Better to encorage the wasp to move now James. As you say, it will hopefully find somewhere more suitable to build a nest.

Your new find looks like an assasin / damsel bug. Is it on a piece of quartz?

by **ourchickenshack** Mon Apr 11, 2016 5:11 pm

cantina_patron wrote:Better to encorage the wasp to move now James. As you say, it will hopefully find somewhere more suitable to build a nest.

Your new find looks like an assasin / damsel bug. Is it on a piece of quartz?

Your the man Steve - I had no idea what the bug was bowwing

Thanks to your knowledge I was able to look it up and I do believe it is a species of Damsel Bug cheers

Yes , I think that is a piece of quartz he is on . I love rocks too and have been gathering them for years to use as borders around our flowerbeds . I know even less about the types of rocks I have then bugs and birds Embarassed

I just like them cause they're pretty Wink

by **cantina_patron** Mon Apr 11, 2016 7:42 pm

I'm glad to have been of help James. The reason I asked whether the bug was on quartz is because I studied Geology (with Zoology) at university and I like to keep my hand in. Wink

by **ourchickenshack** Mon Apr 25, 2016 6:46 am

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by **ourchickenshack** Sun May 01, 2016 5:50 pm

Here's a quick pic before I head to work in my garden ...

Rainbow Scarab Beetle (female)

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I rarely see these beetles but they are among my favorite insects . The males have a huge horn and look like mini Rhino's What a Face

by **cantina_patron** Sun May 01, 2016 8:35 pm

That's a beaut James, I love the way you have caught the iridescence. clapping

by **chris.75** Mon May 02, 2016 7:56 am

Wow, some lovely bugs!
That rainbow scarab beetle is a beauty.

by **ChristianC** Mon May 02, 2016 8:38 am

ourchickenshack wrote:
Here's a quick pic before I head to work in my garden ...

Rainbow Scarab Beetle (female)

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I rarely see these beetles but they are among my favorite insects . The males have a huge horn and look like mini Rhino's

Wow dude that is beautiful! Those colours are stunning. How the hell do you spot these guys.

by **cantina_patron** Sun May 29, 2016 11:18 pm

While I was watering the plants this evening I spotted this Jewel Wasp on the rim of a flower pot saucer. It is only about 4-5mm long & didn't want to be photographed as every time I pointed the camera at it, the little bugger tried to scuttle away. It doesn't show up in the pic but the abdomen is a vibrant metallic red.

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by **ChristianC** Mon May 30, 2016 10:37 am

Very nice Steve! We have loads of wasps/bees in Sydney but I've never seen one like that.

by **ourchickenshack** Mon May 30, 2016 4:37 pm

Beautiful little wasp Steve cheers

It truly lives up to it's name Very Happy

by **Nico** Mon May 30, 2016 4:52 pm

Great colours on the Beetle and Wasp James and Steve cheers

@Christian, living in Sydney have you ever come across these guys mate affraid

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Huntsman on left and Funnelweb What a Face

by **ourchickenshack** Tue May 31, 2016 3:55 am

Caught a interesting Honey Bee behavior today Very Happy

A swarm guarding a Queen Bee in search of a new home ...

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For more info see here : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by **Commander Clint** Tue May 31, 2016 1:29 pm

That is awesome. cheers

That's probably something that most people will never see, unless you have bee hives.

by **ourchickenshack** Mon Jun 13, 2016 6:56 am

Found this tiny little jumping spider today ...

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It was only about a 1/8" wide - definitely one of the smallest spiders I've seen cyclops

pics suck because he wouldn't behave and sit still lol!

by **Nico** Fri Jul 01, 2016 7:41 pm

As I was driving out the building in work this morning on my forklift I noticed this strange looking guy hanging out on the wall, I took a quick pic with my phone but sadly it has not come out as well as I hoped, some kind of moth What a Face

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by **ourchickenshack** Fri Jul 01, 2016 7:57 pm

Very cool moth Andy cheers

I don't know if you have Moles in the UK but that is what this moths face reminds me of Cool

BTW- I think your photo quality is quite excellent bowwing

by **Nico** Fri Jul 01, 2016 8:11 pm

ourchickenshack wrote:Very cool moth Andy

I don't know if you have Moles in the UK but that is what this moths face reminds me of

BTW- I think your photo quality is quite excellent

Cheers James Very Happy

We have moles leaving little piles of earth all over the place on our site at work, I can see the resemblance thou lol!

The thing that struck me about this moth was his camouflage, if he was sitting on a tree branch he would be very hard to spot What a Face

by **ourchickenshack** Sun Jul 10, 2016 6:57 pm

I am not positive if these caterpillars are Black Swallowtail Butterflies or Anise Swallowtail Butterflies scratch

I am leaning towards Black Swallowtail though because they are feeding on our Dillweed plant . Dillweed is listed as a host plant for the Black Swallowtail but not for the Anise ...

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They have these weird little antenna thingies that would pop out when I would touch them ...

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They will eventually turn into one of these I believe ...

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I actually took the 2 butterfly pics last summer What a Face