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  • Welcome to the new site. Here's a thread about the update where you can post your feedback, ask questions or spot those nasty bugs!

paul iddon

  1. Asher Kelman

    The SPIDER THREAD - post your spiders here.

    I have asked Paul Iddon to curate a collection on “Spiders”! Asher
  2. Paul Iddon

    Neriene montana

    I think this is the Neriene montana, with a mirid bug supper. Paul.
  3. Paul Iddon

    The fiddler and the nibbler

    4 more from today - the first of a face-away hoverfly - obviously playing second fiddle... And a Mirinae of some kind, sucking the guts out of its prey (that small lump of a victim) until it has had it's nibble... Paul.
  4. Paul Iddon

    Sarcophagidae - the flesh fly

    Flesh flies look similar to house flies, but are typically larger and have bright red eyes. Adult flesh flies are light gray in color and have a distinctive checkerboard pattern on top of their abdomen. They have three black stripes running down their thorax. Paul.
  5. Paul Iddon

    Froghopper on a rose petal

    This is the common froghopper, Philaenus spumarius. It was standing on the stem of a rose, just beneath the bud, and I was able to gently break the flower away from the plant and that allowed me to use the petals as the background as it moved around. It was around 9.30pm when I took these...
  6. Paul Iddon

    Araniella cucurbitina (cucumber green spider)

    Araneidae family of spiders, the green orb is hard to find because they blend in so damn well... Paul.
  7. Paul Iddon

    2nd sensor clean done

    I really needed to sort out my sensor - it was riddle with dust and badly needed a clean. Below you can see what I end up with after removing dust spots in Photoshop - this is a spittle bug: Looks OK doesn't it? Now see what it started off like!!! You can clearly see the horrid...
  8. Paul Iddon

    Dustywing (Conwentzia psociformis) and an opilione

    Spotted this small white fly-like thing moving slowly on the leaf of the bay laurel late on Monday night. Turns out to be a dustywing - probably Conwetzia psociformis, looking at the wing venation. They belong t the lacewing family - Coniopterygidae, are a family of Pterygota (winged insects)...
  9. Paul Iddon

    Snout mites again

    I have to say, when I find these bugs seen below, I get quite excited at the chase! They constantly and I mean constantly move, unless stopping for food. At best they are 2 or 3mm, and it seems there might be 2 different ones here, but it could just be the innards are showing in #3 Once again...
  10. Paul Iddon

    Beautiful Swallowtail

    A beautiful Swallowtail moth - one of our largest Geometrids. Ourapteryx sambucaria. Being strictly nocturnal and having quite a short emergence period in late June - July, it is not often encountered by the non-enthusiast. With that in mind, I am quite pleased to have had the opportunity to...
  11. Paul Iddon

    Moths, a beetle, and a cobweb spider

    Mostly micro moths tonight - 3 different ones, plus a beetle and a cobweb spider. Paul.
  12. Paul Iddon

    Night finds - from brimstones to pirates to hedgipigs!

    Brimstone to pirates to Hedgipigs... Plus a first ever for me of the false pirate spider, Platnickina tincta And while taking these a hedgehog snuffled by... She didn't mind the flash (flinched the first time which worried me, but seemed happy after that) and if you look closely...
  13. Paul Iddon

    Alder beetles - tough in ANY light!

    This managed to get into the house - and after following it's rescue to the garden, it posed by a way of thanks on the agapanthus... Paul.
  14. Paul Iddon

    Rusty Tussock Moth

    Got a few of these on my bay willow shrub by the front door of the house. The shrub always gets sawfly caterpillars that do a good job of stripping the leaves, but I assume these tussocks will do an equitable job of it too... Paul.
  15. Paul Iddon

    Jumping spider and a HUGE meal...

    This salticus scenicus jumping spider has gotten a meal that is huge compared to itself! Paul.
  16. Paul Iddon

    Today and tonight's ramblings

    Today and tonight's ramblings yielded the following: a hoverfly larvae which was looking for a place to sleep for a few weeks, a snail and it's trail, and a millipede. Hoverfly larvae: (White lipped) Banded Snail: And the millipede: Paul.
  17. Paul Iddon

    Notch-horned cleg

    We as humans just don't want to get too close to the cleg fly females - them pincers make a nasty mess of your skin! (Haematopota crassicornis and) Haematopota pluvialis are very similar. This is the latter (brown mottled wings). She kept landing on my shirt and I kept flicking her away - and...
  18. Paul Iddon

    Mirid

    Mirid bugs are common wherever there is an abundant food source. Some mirid species prey exclusively on soft-bodied invertebrates, while others also feed on plant sap if they have depleted prey numbers, causing distorted leaf growth and leaving puncture marks in fruits. (Source) These were on a...
  19. Paul Iddon

    8 eyes

    She's a good size! Paul.
  20. Paul Iddon

    Crab Spider

    This is a female philodromus sp. spider on the bird feeder... Paul.
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