From a few months back, fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica). The leaves look like this:
Photos taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-08-12.
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From a few months back, fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica). The leaves look like this:
Photos taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-08-12.
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A white crab spider, Misumena vatia (family Thomisidae, order Araneae) with an ambush victim, hoverfly Cheilosia illustrata. For more on M. vatia see here; for more on C. illustrata see here. The flowers are hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium).
Photo taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK on 2009-06-26.
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When I first saw this, I thought that it must be a bee, but when I got home and looked it up, it turned out to be a hoverfly: Cheilosia illustrata (family Syrphidae, order Diptera). The flowers it is feeding on are hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium).
Photos taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-06-19.
]]>This is not the first time I have seen one of these birds from Broad Street. See here for details.
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A female Sphaerophoria scripta (family Syrphidae, order Diptera) feeding on sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica).
Photo taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-08-16.
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This afternoon I came across this black chalcid wasp on the underside of an oak leaf. I think it is probably Sycophila biguttata (family Eurytomidae, order Hymenoptera) based on comparison with photos here and here. The black bar visible across the folded wings is actually formed by two black spots, one on each wing. Although I did see this specimen crawl over the smooth spangle gall visible in the top left of the above photo, Neuroterus albipes, the Cynipid wasp that causes smooth spangle galls, is not listed as one of the species parasitized by Sycophila biguttata. Maybe the above association was just a coincidence.
This individual was a female; you can make out a short ovipositor in the following photo:
Photos taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, Uk, on 2009-11-02.
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A grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) feeding on maple keys just outside our living room window. There are four of these squirrels living in the trees that surround our flats.
Photo taken in Reading, UK, on 2009-11-01.
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A moth fly (family Psychodidae, order Diptera) on an iris blade. I have no idea of the genus nor the species. See here for one of my earlier photos of moth flies.
Photo taken beside the large lake, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-07-16.
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A common flower bug, Anthocoris nemorum (family Anthocoridae, order Hemiptera), probably on a the leaf of a blackberry bush (Rubus sp.), though I have more frequently seen them on stinging nettles (Urtica dioica). At only 3 or 4mm long, these bugs are really quite small. The similar A. nemoralis and A. confusus tend to be a little darker and prefer to live on deciduous trees.
Photo taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-06-23.
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From back in early September: a light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana (family Tortricidae, order Lepidoptera). This is a leaf-roller moth of some economic importance as a pest. Its larvae grow on many types of plant, not just apple trees. It originated in Australia but has spread to Britain, New Zealand, Hawaii and has recently been discovered in California.
Photo taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-09-05.
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