We spent part of the day back at Otmoor as the weather was bright and sunny perfect for loads of Dragonfly or so I thought while we did see some there were more Damselflies of which I took far too many images. Other insects were also photogenic. The banks of the River Thames, later in the day, proved fruitful for only one species of Damselfly the Banded Demoiselle. A canny day out.
I thought at first these next few images were of
Common Darters however I now think they are Ruddy Darters but I’m happy to be
proved wrong.
Male Banded Demoiselle.
Female Banded Demoiselle.
Male Azure Damselfly having its bait.
Female Azure Damselfly.
A mating pair.
Another mating pair.
Blue-tailed Damselfly.
Rufescens-obsoleta female Blue-tailed Damselfly.
Infuscans female Blue-tailed Damselfly.
Violacea female Blue-tailed Damselfly.
A mating pair.
Common Blue Damselfly.
Dock Bug.
Bee.
Zebra Spider.
Harlequin Ladybird.
Harlequin giving a fly a lift.
Caterpillar of the Lackey Moth.
Caterpillar of the Box Tree Moth with a Spider.
Small Heath Butterfly.
Small Copper Butterfly.
Are these Ants protecting or predating these what look-like
eggs or mites?
Common Malachite Beetle.
Tree Bumblebee.
Could this be a Blue Shieldbug on the ground.
Good stuff Ron, deffo Ruddy Darters, female and immature male there, and great shots of the variations of Blue-tailed forms, especially like the flight shot. Not seen either of those caterpillars before, very nice, and yes that's a Blue Shieldbug, not unusual to see them at ground level. The ants (prob Lasius niger) are tending those black aphids for the honeydew secretions they give out, so protecting them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alan. There were loads of blue Damselflies around and everyone of them was an Azure to my wife who thought they were lovely. And thanks for the info on the ants I was wondering what they were up to.
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