Bugs

Well… not exactly. Only certain types of insect are actually called bug’s and there are none of those here. These are all beetles. Beetles form the largest group of easily observed creatures in the insect world. In fact there are so many beetle species that J.B.S Haldane once said “God must have been inordinately found of beetles”. It was a poignant observation that David Attenborough saw fit to quote in his 1970’s TV series ‘Life on Earth’. Some Beetles are so well known to us that they have made their way into nursery rhymes that we teach our children but most are just ‘there’ in our gardens and sometimes in our houses and remain unidentified unless we take an interest – which is a shame because many of them are very beautiful.

Here is a colourful example feeding on the pollen of a Meadow Buttercup at Long Lane Pasture. This is a female Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) – the male has the enlarged thighs that gift this beetle its name…

From the top this insect is all red but the underparts are all pure beetle-black. Get a load of those wonderful antennae 🙂 This is a Red-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis). It is a predator that feeds on other insects. The red colour suggests to other predators that it is toxic…

Well known through the rhymes of our childhood – Here is a 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempuncata). Public enemy no-1 if you’re an Aphid – these are voracious predators to be found anywhere there are greenfly and blackfly sucking the sap out of plants which makes them the gardener’s friend 🙂

All images were taken at Long Lane Pasture on Saturday 26/05/2018. I will be looking to add more from the pasture on a regular basis now. Who knows – in another post we may get to see some genuine Bug’s 🙂 I also must do some nature photography in my garden and over Hampstead Heath.