Grass Bug Nymphs

A couple of evenings ago I noticed lots of these small grey bugs on the long grass in the university grounds.  In some areas, every grass stem seemed to have at least one or two on it.  I thought that they were probably hemipteran bugs, and that the short, stubby, not yet fully formed wings suggested that they were nymphs (ie: juveniles).  However, it wasn't until today that I got any clear photos of them and was able to attempt identification.  Thanks to British Bugs I now think that they are either Leptopterna dolabrata (the meadow plant bug) or Leptopterna ferrugata, but I will probably have to wait until they grow up into adults before I can to decide between these two species.

This picture shows the proboscis which hemipteran bugs use to extract sap from their host plant:

Photos taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-05-23 and 2009-05-24.

Sawflies

Two black and green sawflies mating.  Probably Tenthredo mesomelas (order Hymenoptera, family Tenthredinidae).  Distinguishing features are the light green spot on the thorax and the black leading edges to the wings.  The similar Rhodogaster viridis has green or yellow leading edges to its wings. (Ref: M. Chinery, Complete British Insects, Collins, 2005, p 324).  Both of these species seem to show quite a lot of variability in the ratio of black to green on the upper parts of the body.

Photo taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-05-22.

Snipe Fly

A female snipe fly, of species Rhagio scolopaceus (Diptera: Rhagionidae).

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-05-20.

ImageMagick

Thomas Guest in a post at wordaligned.org:

ImageMagick masquerades as a shell tool but really it’s a powerful and fully featured programmer’s imaging tool — a bit like a command-line version of Gimp. Although well documented, my gut reaction is that it pushes the command-line interface too far.

Longhorn Moths

A small moth with ridiculously long antennae: Nemophora degeerella, the longhorn moth.  Only in the male are the antennae this long (4 to 6 times body length), in the female they are much shorter (only 1 times body length). 

This afternoon I came across several males in the bushes near the ice house.  Further along my walk I saw some females, but I didn't get any photos of them.

Photos taken in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-05-20.