A Stink bug, a Soldier fly and a Silvery blue, walk into a bar.
Oh dear, he has lost it and is using a really bad joke format to introduce some new findings. Fortunately, I don’t have an ending to the joke so you can make up your own.
Assistance with identification comes from the good folks at INaturalist. This is an extremely useful website where one can post a picture and other users will suggest an ID. Once enough people have agreed then you can be sure of the finding. These four species where all seen in my neighbourhood while wandering with my camera.
A Silvery blue. This butterfly appeared as a lovely blue blur flitting about in the bushes by the river. When it landed all I could see from a distance was a dull grey smudge. I was not able to get a picture of it during flight and was quite surprised how the dull grey turned out to include delicate textures and intricate colour when I processed the picture.
This fly was sitting on the lid of the compost bin. The recurring rainbow flag on the wings gives me great delight. It is probably a member of Soldier flies.
There are a few insects in this ‘Stink bug’ category. They emit a foul smelling liquid from specialized glands when they are threatened. This one is called a Twice-stabbed Stink Bug. (??? I couldn’t find an explanation for that moniker.)
This insect has the delightful name of a White-spotted Pond Fly. It sat for a few moments as I took the picture and then disappeared and I never saw it again.
5 Comments
I wonder if the “twice-stabbed” refers to the two “bloody wounds” on its hind end.
The bartender looks at them sideways, and the stink bug says, “What’s bugging you?”
I remembered when I saw your pictures that I woke up from a dream this morning about being clenched on my arm by the legs of a bug resembling the Twice Stabbed Stink Bug. Perhaps I was the one who stabbed it twice!! As always, your photos simply amaze me and I am in awe of how you capture the beauty in those things we swat when at our picnic table. Thanks again for sharing these mostly ignored insects!
I strived for years to be able to reproduce such COLOUR in my ceramic glazes… as always nature is the perfect designer! Sandi
Love these pics! As a bug lover of most small ones except for mosquitoes, tent caterpillars and lily beetles, I love seeing the beauty you find with your magic eye and camera.