Official ID thread

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need id of this wee insect, looks like a type of wasp
bug-13.JPG
 
It would be much appreciated if i could get the ID of this fly that was in garden this afternoon.taken with 100mm macro and ef12 extension tube and ring flash
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It is a Nomada bee or cuckoo bee it is a cleptoparasite of other bees.
The dorsal shot will help with a more accurate I'D.

thank you alf, i think all the pictures I managed were pretty much the same,

Anyone good with butterflies? I believe I have a brown argus and a dingy skipper, both of which are new for me, taken at dovedale yesterday.

M34A8157 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr

M34A8164 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr
 
Probably a female small red eye damsel again look here
Its close but I think the jury might still be out on this one Alf. Before posting the shots here I had looked through a lot of images and the entirety of the damsel section on the site you linked to. None of the markings or colours seem to be a match but I suppose it could be a morph not listed in the guides or even a non native species.

Here is another one I have found hard to ID mainly due to the insane variety of green beetles to be found in the UK.

pretty odd looking little critter.
IMG_2860.jpg
 
Hard to say from this angle but maybe a green tiger beetle
Its close but I think the jury might still be out on this one Alf. Before posting the shots here I had looked through a lot of images and the entirety of the damsel section on the site you linked to. None of the markings or colours seem to be a match but I suppose it could be a morph not listed in the guides or even a non native species.

Here is another one I have found hard to ID mainly due to the insane variety of green beetles to be found in the UK.

pretty odd looking little critter.
View attachment 127232
 
Hi Ryan, I have just found my books out, never seen a yellow form myself. Looking through the book I think it is a female blue tailed damselfly, but a bright rufescens-obsoleta form
Thanks Michael, think you might be right. All the marking seem to be a match even if the colour isn't identical.
 
Yours looks very fresh. I still haven't seen any dragonflies and damsels this season yet.
Tonnes of damsels about around here at the moment but no dragons that I have seen. I have been going down to the local wildlife reserve a couple times a week recently in the hopes of catching an emerging dragon but no luck as of yet.
 
Tonnes of damsels about around here at the moment but no dragons that I have seen. I have been going down to the local wildlife reserve a couple times a week recently in the hopes of catching an emerging dragon but no luck as of yet.

my brother had been out today and got a black tailed skimmer, which I have never seen. Can't be long now though.

Here I have a spider I would like the id of possible, photographed in knaresborough on railings above the river

IMG_7866 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr
 
ID on this? little mite was no more than 2mm length, found it very tricky to get him in focus. Pana 100-300 with a Raynox 250 attached at 300mm which gave me just over 3:1, and it still looks teensy after a bit of cropping


Ultra Mite by K G, on Flickr
 
my brother had been out today and got a black tailed skimmer, which I have never seen. Can't be long now though.

Here I have a spider I would like the id of possible, photographed in knaresborough on railings above the river

IMG_7866 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr

Its a crab spider but other than that not sure I was shooting one the other day
 
ID on this? little mite was no more than 2mm length, found it very tricky to get him in focus. Pana 100-300 with a Raynox 250 attached at 300mm which gave me just over 3:1, and it still looks teensy after a bit of cropping


Ultra Mite by K G, on Flickr

Nicely shot little barkfly
 
Thanks Alf, puts me in the right direction, it was pretty quick when it moved, gave me the run around for a couple of minutes.
I had the same recently too.
 
I'm guessing its a 4th / 5th instar Damsel Larvae shell ?
As I saw one laying eggs last summer, in the ground cover plants at the edge of the pond...
Crap phone picture, but you can just about make out the slit in the back, where it crawled out and the tendril's that attached it to the Clematis, where I found it hanging.



IMAG0014.jpg
 
I saw this larva (I presume) at the weekend at Burniston Cliffs in Yorkshire. It is not like anything I have seen before and I would rather like to know what it is.
Burniston-6.jpg
 
By the way the eyes meet at the top I recon it is a dragon shell as opposed to a damsel. As for the exact ID I've no clue.
Thanks, maybe it was a dragon I saw laying eggs in that case.
(they all look alike to me :D )
 
I'm guessing its a 4th / 5th instar Damsel Larvae shell ?
As I saw one laying eggs last summer, in the ground cover plants at the edge of the pond...
Crap phone picture, but you can just about make out the slit in the back, where it crawled out and the tendril's that attached it to the Clematis, where I found it hanging.



View attachment 130262

It's a dragonfly, having a look in my book, I reckon its an Emperor Dragonfly, if not then one of the hawkers.
 
It's a dragonfly, having a look in my book, I reckon its an Emperor Dragonfly, if not then one of the hawkers.
Thanks Michael (y)

edit, just googled Emperor Dragonfly, and that certainly looks like what I saw laying eggs :)
 
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Here is another one I have found hard to ID mainly due to the insane variety of green beetles to be found in the UK.

pretty odd looking little critter.
View attachment 127232

That beetle is a Common Malachite Beetle ( a flower beetle)

If you ever fancy picking a book up, this one is excellent.

And a great online resource, which most probably came up on a google search is https://www.british-dragonflies.org.uk/

Yes that is the best one imo too.
 
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