As summer seems to have returned to southern England, I thought I'd offer something a bit lighter and essentially photographic rather than any in-depth diagnostic morphology or analyses of gall contents (though these will return...). Instead, here's a selection of splendid invertebrates from Ovington water meadows near Winchester - the site is managed for nature conservation and is a centuries-old water meadow system of sluice-controlled channels, grasslands, scrub and mill-stream. Enjoy!
Starting with the flies (Diptera):
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| The Noon-fly (Mesembrina meridiana) often seen basking - distinctive yellow-gold wing-bases on an otherwise black fly. This one was busily engaged in leg-cleaning behaviour. |
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| A hoverfly of the genus Helophilus feeding from umbellifer flowers. |
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| The stilt-legged fly Calobata petronella perched on a leaf. |
And of course some beetles (Coleoptera):
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| A splendid Red-headed Cardinal beetle, Pyrochroa serraticornis |
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| An (IMO) even more splendid longhorn beetle, Agapanthia villosoviridescens |
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| Guarding its patch of umbellifer flower, a soldier beetle of the genus Cantharis. |
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| One of the Donacia reed beetles - in my specialist area, the family Chrysomelidae. Look out for a post on Donacia soon, including colour variants from this site. |
Now onto a possibly less familiar group, the scorpion-flies (Mecoptera):
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| A female of the genus Panorpa - the males have a scorpion-like tail with genital capsule raised at the end. |
And finally, I couldn't look at a wetland ecosystem without at least one specimen of Odonata:
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| To humans, a lovely Banded Demoiselle Calopteryx splendens; to small invertebrates, fearsome flying jaws! |
I hope you enjoyed my photographic interlude - something a little more in-depth coming this way soon...
