In the Garden Today

It is always interesting to find a new insect in the garden, and this hoverfly is no exception. I haven't posted it on iSpot yet, but I'm wondering if I am in the right area with a proposed ID of Chrysotoxum bicinctum, an imperfect wasp mimic. The first link will take you to an Irish site, but I gather this species is widespread. I look forward to having the identification confirmed - or corrected!

Hoverflies were not the only insects on the move in the garden today: we saw several Small White butterflies, one Holly Blue and one Red Admiral. I would so love to find a Small Tortoiseshell or a Painted Lady...

We have also been enjoying the resident grasshoppers. All the photos below, except the top right one in the collage (which was taken a fortnight ago), were taken this afternoon.

Lizards, Butterflies and Dragonflies at NT Wicken Fen

After a rather grey summer, it was particularly good to have spells of warm sunshine at NT Wicken Fen this afternoon. I have seen very few Small Tortoiseshell butterflies this season, so was delighted to see a couple. 

Small Tortoiseshell

Bee flitting among the Nasturtiums

David on the electric boat, scanning for Kingfishers on Reach Lode (for 'lode' see here)

A Common Lizard - does this one look gravid? Possibly rather late in the season, but I think she does!

Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes

Wicken Fen, reedbeds and windpump

2-spot Ladybird in the Teasel

Another Common Lizard

Roesel's Bush Cricket (see cream crescent on shoulder)

Three Common Lizards

Definitely a Darter dragonfly ... but which?

A Comma butterfly - just the one

Fen Cottage has been open for 25 years this September ... celebrations are in hand

Looking up Wicken Lode from Upware towards Wicken Fen

Nearby Ely is named after the eels

A lovely day out ... not forgetting a pot of National Trust tea and a slice of coffee cake!

Anyone for ... Cricket?

We found this handsome creature walking about on our bathroom ceiling on 6 August. I forgot to post the photo at the time, so it is a case of better late than never!

I am no expert when it comes to orthoptera, but I think this is a male Bush Cricket.

Home Patch (26): Visiting Cricket

This cricket must have hopped in to our house during the night. Grasshoppers do not have such long antennae. Crickets rub their wings together when they stridulate while grasshoppers 'sing' by rubbing their legs against their wings. Both species belong to the group known as Orthoptera ('ortho' = rigid and/or straight and 'ptera' = wing in Greek).

Orthoptera (2): Grasshopper or Cricket?

Having posted about a Grasshopper in my last post (also on our car windscreen), I thought it would make sense to post this creature here. It was actually spotted in September 2009 in Wiltshire. Judging by the long antennae, I guess it may be a Cricket. There are ten species of Bush Cricket in Britain, apparently.

You might enjoy:

• Seabrooke Leckie's Canadian Grasshopper Season
• Naquillity's Katydid - and Haiku
  

Orthoptera (1): Grasshopper

Due to my fractured arm, David took this 'arty' photograph for me of the Grasshopper on our windscreen yesterday at Laugharne. The reflected image (at least I think it is the reflection) picks out the creature's orange abdomen.

I am guessing that it may be a Striped-Winged Grasshopper (Stenobothrus lineatus), as the Common Green does not have red or orange on its abdomen. The creature soon hopped off.

• You might enjoy a post on Adam Tilt's blog about the Dark Bush Cricket