Today’s photos come from Uwe Mueller in Deutschland. Mueller’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them:
Here is a collection of insects that I shot in the Bergisches Land of Germany. I’m not that familiar with insects so it is possible (in fact very likely) that I committed errors with their naming. Any corrections will be appreciated.
A Globe wanderer dragonfly (Pantala flavescens) that landed on my balcony and didn’t mind when I took multiple shots of her from close proximity. According to Wikipedia it can be found all around the globe but is quite rare in Europe and made its first appearance in Germany only in 2019.
A Migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta) in flight. These is one of the main dragonfly species that I see at our local pond. Its german name is Herbst-Mosaikjungfer which translates to Fall mosaic virgin, whatever the reason behind this name is:
A Western honey bee (Apis mellifera):
Not too sure if this is a Common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) or a German wasp (Vespula germanica). On another shot I could see one dot on its head. According to Wikipedia the German wasp should have three dots so I guess it is the Common wasp then:
A Polygonia c-album which I find is a strange name for a butterfly:
Another insect that I wasn’t able to identify. Some kind of predatory fly that is eating another insect:
An ant (Tetramorium noclueensis):
An insect identification website told me that this is a fruit fly (Drosophila sp.). However, is it? I shot this in our local forest and the fruit flies that I sometimes find in my kitchen during the fruit season are usually a lot smaller:
I love how the dragonfly colors pop out against the flat gray background – in flight, even!
That predatory fly looks very much like a robber fly (Asilidae), but as to a closer identification, I’d have to leave it to the entomologically-inclined among the commenters here – if it was up to me I’d have to assign it to the noclueensis taxon.
Yes, it is a robber fly (Asilidae) that appears to be eating a true bug (Hemiptera).
Very nice. Love the dragonflies!
The c-album in Polygonia c-album names the white c-shaped mark (album=white) on the hind wings, which gives the common name Comma butterfly. It is related to Polygonia interrogationis, the Question Mark butterfly, known in the US, where the white mark is slightly more exotic. Sadly that’s it for the punctuation, and there are no butterflies named Semi-colon, Apostrophe, Diaeresis, Ellipsis, or any other mark.
There are also butterflies whose common names refer to numbers, like the “88” butterflies of the neotropics:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaethria_anna
Wo die Wälder noch rauschen…
Cheers to Bergisches Land!
Best Michael
The Migrant hawker is beautiful! I like the scalloped wings of the butterfly, they look unique to me. The ant is my nemesis. Don’t read this Mark S., I dump diatomaceous earth in the mounds that show up too close to my yard. We have BIG ant problems where I live and I react severely to their bites. Thanks for the post.