Gibraltar Point

[john.margetts]

We had one of our regular visits to Gibraltar Point nature reserve today. Supposedly, there were a lot of exciting birds there (Bestbeloved's description) so I took my long (and heavy) lens. Saw little of bird life but there were some interesting insects.

The first on is what appears to be a wasp of some sort drawing a spider along the sandy path.

This next one is two anonymous flying insects mating while the one on the left is also having a meal (the male, surely?).
The last is a Painted Lady butterfly. I have seen very few butterflies this year and those I have seen have been either large White, Peacock or Meadow Brown. Today I saw this Painted Lady, several gatekeeper and a skipper.

 

[cruso]

Very nice the insects look like robber fly’s

 

[Mr Badger]

First one is a species of spider-hunting wasp; they sting the spider to kill it, then drag it back to a pre-dug burrow in the sand, lay an egg on it and bury it. The egg subsequently hatches and the larva eats the spider before eventually metamorphosing into an adult wasp: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_wasp Nature red in tooth and claw! Well spotted, John.