I itch! (Buggy photos 3)

No sooner than summer is officially here, and I'm a complete itchy mess due to my 'friends', the harvest mites (aoutats, chiggers) coming out to play. I hate the bloody things with a vengeance as it doesn't matter how many layers of clothing I wear, they will still get me. They are not flying insects and you can't see them with the naked eye. They don't even suck blood or inject venom into you. Oh no, these little lovelies feed on your flesh by sticking a feeding tube into you, injecting you with a flesh dissolving enzyme and then schlurping bits of you up like soup, leaving you with a lovely itchy red scabby mark. They also have a tendancy to go for your sweaty bits, so inside your bra strap (if you wear one that is) or knicker elastic. Lovely isn't it? If you've just moved to Brittany, or France, or even anywhere in the countryside and you've suddenly been scratching like mad and blaming the poor dog or cat, or even wondering if you've got an infestation of bed bugs, I suggest you read up about this horrible creature here, before you start DDTing the dog or your house, rather like I did my first summer here.

I am of course liberally slathered in insect repellant, but having forgotten our long daylight hours and the fact that regular strength Jungle Formula only lasts about 6 hours, the buggers have got me. It doesn't help that whilst taking photos I have been stalking through long grass and doing a lot of kneeling down or sitting in it. Oh how I suffer for my art.

So it seems only fitting to make another buggy post of some of the more pleasant insects I've been coming across. Of course, some of them are not particularly nice to the creatures that they or their own larvae eat - but so long as they leave me alone, quite frankly I don't care!

(All these photos are much better viewed when clicked on and seen full screen size. Unless you are looking through a mobile phone sized screen!)

Hawthorn shield bug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale)
(Is it just me, or did anyone else do a double take at that second word and think hemorrhoids?)

(Probably) Red Tailed bumble bee (Bombus lapidarius) on coriander flowers

Marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Female,
on a cranesbill geranium flower

Marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Male,
on a foxglove

The larvae of the Marmalade hoverfly feed on aphids, and the adult is a pollinator, so they are very welcome beneficial insects in the garden.

I think this is a Drone fly, Eristalis tenax, which is a hoverfly, on Verbena bonariensis

Ichneumon wasp, a parasitic wasp. Harmless to humans, not so nice to the insects
whose homes it lays its eggs in.

Ichneumon wasp

Mating Gendarmes, as they are known in France, or Firebugs
(Pyrrhocoris apterus)

Common yellow dung fly (Scathophaga stercoraria) again (it's everywhere!)

A Moth! No butterflies around at the moment so much excitement
was had seeing this in the woodland.
It's a Yellow Shell moth (Camptogramma bilineata)

You probably think I've become an entomologist overnight, with all those latin names and stuff. Actually I've either googled the ID if it is simple, or been helped by other people far more knowledgeable than me. If it's just plain, haven't got a clue then I'll tell you!

Haven't got a clue, on an Oxeye Daisy

Haven't got a clue, on an Erigeron flower (the size of
a lawn daisy, so you see how small these beetles are)

Very probably the Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci). I mentioned them in
an earlier Buggy Photos post. You DON'T want them in your house. Outside they are happy pollinators though.

Little hoverfly (probably Syritta pipiens) on Erigeron.

This next one has to be one of my favourites, because I thought I was taking a nice photo of a pretty Zantedeschia (arum lily) flower and hadn't noticed what was lurking in it until I zoomed in on it. Gave me quite a shock!

"THE THING"

That's all for now folks. Believe me, I am actually doing some gardening, not just stalking wee things around it. I'll do an update on the veg patch early next month, cos there really isn't a huge amount to say about it right now. It's not like it changes much week to week, or that I've got a red tomato to brag about. Fat chance!