#syns arthropod adventures

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Agapanthia villosoviridescens, the golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetle (according to translation via Wikipedia, at least). Pretty common where I live, but I love them so much. Look at those antennae!

Bringing back those sweet summer feelings...

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Some bees like Colletes daviesanus (a species of plasterer bee) like to gather in groups for the night. Love finding their little clusters in summer :’)

//Don’t mind me editing this post after looking at the photo again and realising that these bees are clearly NOT Colletes ^^”. That’s what happens when you IDed a photo two years ago and then never question your result again. Judging by their serrated antennae, these bees should be drones of the genus Melitta (fittingly named “saw-horned bees” in German). Likely Melitta leporina, because we have a lot of those in the area - they like to collect alfalfa nectar here. Maybe I’ll post a photo of a female soon. Female bees are usually easier to ID, haha.

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A small moth I found last year - I think it is Drepana curvatula, the Dusky Hook-tip. Anyway, it’s pretty!

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Male (top) and female (bottom) Banded Demoiselle, Calopteryx splendens. Incredibly beautiful little creatures... ;-;

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Geometra papilionaria, the Large Emerald. One of the bigger Geometridae species we have here :)

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Curculio sp. - man, I love these little guys! Best nose in the universe!

Photos from 2021

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Happy Valentine’s Day! Have some animals having sex (or being close to it) from last year. As an aromantic asexual I sure end up running into a lot of those lol.

The top row shows a collection of smaller males of different types of animals holding on to their (much bigger) females in an attempt to make sure that no other males will come and have sex with her. In particular, we have European orchard bees (Osmia cornuta), common toads (Bufo bufo), and oil beetles (Meloe proscarabaeus). The remaining three pictures are, uh, actual sex photos. Featuring: ruby tiger moths (Phragmatobia fuliginosa), striped bugs (Graphosoma italicum), and Egyptian geese (Alopochen aegyptiaca).

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And to finally revisit that one Sunday two weeks ago... beautiful weather and lots of nice animals! Last two photos are from my phone and I’m sorry about the quality haha. Anyway:

- Little ringed plovers (Charadrius dubius)

- Large bee-fly (Bombylius major). Very fluffy, but don’t be fooled! Their larvae live as parasites inside other insects.

- Just a nice view with flowering trees

- A bit of a solar halo effect

- Lots and lots of wood anemones (Anemonoides nemorosa). Some of the first flowers to bloom in spring!

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Bee season has finally started again! This is a pair of mating European orchard bees (Osmia cornuta) - male on top, female below. One of my favourite species so far!

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Two pairs of mating four-spot orb-weavers (Araneus quadratus). The males had to be very careful here, trying hard not to get eaten.

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Wasp spider, Argiope bruennichi. So pretty! And I love how their egg sacks look like little lanterns :D. One of the bigger spiders over here, but completely harmless.

The zigzag pattern in their nets, seen on the bottom left, is typical for several Argiope species.

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Bit later than planned, but here we go... About last Friday. Friday I found a hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum), which I think is quite remarkable, because I live pretty far up north in Germany and these moths don’t live here in winter. They do that in France and the Mediterranean and then, in summer, travel great distances, for example across the alps and far up north. Though, I don’t know, maybe this one came from northern France. Still impressive, considering how icy it still is here!

Please ignore the weird colours in the second photo. I had messed-up flash settings and everything was overexposed :I

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Got to photograph my all-time favourite bee species today: Andrena fulva, one of the prettiest mining bees we have here in Germany. It’s fairly common, but I found it hard to get close enough to take a photo.

Its status as my all-time fave totally hasn’t got anything to do with it’s absolutely ridiculous German common name, “Fuchsrote Lockensandbiene” (literally translated as “fox-red sand bee with curls”). Nope. Not at all.

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Some more photos of four-spotted orb-weavers (Araneus quadratus). I like them with their striped legs, okay!

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Different color morphs of Idothea baltica (Baltic Isopod). Idk, I think they’re pretty :)

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That same day, on the same tour, I also found these big bugs: oil beetles (Meloe proscarabaeus). Only afterwards did I find out that they are extremely poisonous! (As in: eating one bug could kill you).

Anyway, 10/10, would touch again :U.