Oversley Wood

Chasing the Dragonfly

Spotted this dragonfly darting about and returning to his perch, so as he was dashing about I moved in close to his perch. Trouble was he actually had more than on perch he was using so he would go to the one farthest from me and whenever I crept closer he would go to another perch. Therefore I couldn't get too close.With a bit of heavy cropping, though,  of the pictures aren't too bad.

Common Darter - Sympetrum striolatum

Shieldbug Nymph

In order to grow insects have to "moult" their existing exoskeletons and they can go through a number of transformations before they reach maturity. The period between molts is called an instar and shieldbugs go through 5 instars before maturity and they gradually get to look more like the finished product. Having said that I couldn't tell you which instar of which shieldbug this is!

Dark Bush Cricket - Pholidoptera griseoaptera

Crickets are like birds..... Not because they have wings but because they have identifiable songs. In fact just like birds it is often easier to identify a cricket by its song, especially as they are often hidden in undergrowth or grass. This cricket makes a very uncomplicated sound, just a single , fairly high pitched note . Others may be more intricate and interesting but at least this one is "easy". If you get to know them you can know if it is worth waiting  to try to see the critter or if it is just one of the same type you have seen loads of. Or if like me you haven't really got that skill you can at least compare what you are hearing in the undergrowth and decide if there are multiple species present.

Bush Cricket Nymph

Can't really say more than that. Its not fully developed and it didn't make a noise ! I think it is female though because of the long oviposter (egg laying tube).

Hoverfly - Eristalis pertinax

Could be considered quite a dull hoverfly and could even be confused with a honey bee maybe. But it has quite a distinctive tapered body shape that doesn't really occur ( or at least not as pronounced) in other hoverflies.