Bug Photos

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Green Tiger Beetle, Cicindela campestris, The Burren

Robber Fly, Asilidae family (True Flies, Diptera), with prey, Dordogne
The Robber Fly lies in wait on a grass stalk for a prey insect to fly past.
Then it flies up and swiftly traps it in its jaws, using the hairs on its legs as a basket to sweep it up.
The stiff white bristles on the front of its head keep the prey from injuring its eyes.
The small whitish lollopop-shaped organ below the wings is a haltere, the reduced hindwing which works as an accelerometer.

Harvestman, Leiobunum rotundum, Uxbridge Moor
OK, so it's not an insect, it's an opilionid arachnid, 4 legs each side; not a typical spider either, one-part body. Definitely a "bug", though.

And those long cylindrical War of the Worlds walking machine legs make even supermodels look positively short and fat.
Do you suppose that's where H. G. Wells got the idea for his story?

Strangalia maculata, a kind of 'wasp beetle', on Pignut, Aston Rowant

Tiny iridescent green Chrysomelid leaf beetles on Spear Thistle, Cirsium vulgare, Aston Rowant

Inch-Long Killer: Pompilid Spider-Hunting Wasp Anoplius infuscatus with her spider prey.

True Composite Image. Sandy heathland on Lower Greensand, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire

Large wasp-patterned Sawfly, apparently Tenthredo (cf T. scrophulariae, the Figwort Sawfly) on Gooseberry leaves, London

The insect is presumably a female: each year it briefly visits the fruit bushes between April and June, probably to lay eggs.

Red Mason Bees Osmia rufa mating, London. The female is larger and redder than the male.

Bloody-Nose Beetle Timarcha tenebricosa, Dordogne showing iridescence - greener above, bluer below.

Oil Beetle, Meloë proscarabeus, St Justinian's, Wales

The Oil Beetle is slow and flightless; not surprisingly, like the Bloody-Nose Beetle, it is poisonous, exuding a foul yellow blood if threatened.
It is one of the insects described at length by J. H. Fabre in his classic The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles;
he recounts its bizarre life-history: it lays thousands of eggs.
The larvae climb plants and wait for exactly the right species of bee to arrive;
if they are lucky, they are taken to the bee's nest where they eat a bee larva and develop; otherwise, they perish.

Longhorn Beetle, metallic green with black spots (Cerambycidae), Dordogne

Firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus, Dordogne

Butterfly Eggs and Yellow Aphid on Great Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) leaf underside, Dordogne

Scorpion Fly Panorpa communis: Female, Dordogne; Male, Aston Rowant

The last 4 segments of her abdomen are telescopic, retractable like the legs of a tripod.
The end of the male's abdomen is swollen and held like a scorpion's tail above the body. Both have a long 'beak'.

Great Green Bush Cricket Tettigonia viridissima, Dordogne

The Latin name of this wonderful insect means roughly "The greenest chirper":
"Tetti-" is onomatopoeic for the loud chirp made by this beautiful cryptically-coloured insect.
It is a weak jumper, preferring to scramble or fly ̶ or to sit still and rely on its camouflage.

Male Stag Beetle Lucanus cervus, London

This fine specimen hatched from the Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) trunk which had lain in the garden for 8 years.

Mating Pair of Italian Striped-Bugs Graphosoma italicum, Dordogne

Masked Bug larva, self-camouflaged with sawdust or bits of lichen

Shield-Bugs Palomena prasina mating on tayberry, London

Mating Harlequin Ladybirds Harmonia axyridis on redcurrant leaf, London

A marvellously cryptic grasshopper on chalk pebbles, Dordogne
When fully mature the wings extend further, and the insect half-jumps,
half-flies with a confusing burst of blue wings, only to disappear instantly as it lands.