One last evening visit to the garden at the insistence of His Majesty, King Tigger 
Armed only with my phone, I nevertheless got semi-reasonable shots of a couple of new small beetles to add to my list:
1. Hellbraune Glasflügelwanze (Rhopalus subrufus; I can't find an English name), a scentless plant bug;
2. Woundwort shieldbug (Stagonomus venustissimus; Schillerwanze).
#Heidelberg 
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#BackGardenEntomology 
And as a bonus, here's a shot of a red-banded sand wasp (Ammophila sabulosa) seen on the garden steps, immediately beneath me.
The lack of additional black spots on the tergites further forward from the end identify it as a female.
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To make up for the rather gruesome robber fly picture earlier, here are a couple of butterflies that paid brief visits to the garden this afternoon 
The first three pictures are of a female holly blue (Celestrina argiolus), while the last is of a very skittish European comma (Polygonia c-album), which really didn't want to let me get close 
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Terrible picture, but consider the circumstances 
This robber fly landed my left hand. I had to move the fly away slowly enough to get the DSLR to my eye & make a single right-handed shot at close proximity.
Before it either bit me or flew away 
Thankfully, the latter
Best guess is that it's a harpoon robber fly (Machimus intermedius) – native to S & SW Germany, but rare 
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Schönbär (Callimorpha dominula)
Photo 
Dietmar Bachmann 
Aargau, Switzerland
Beautiful bear, Butterfly (moth) from the bear moth subfamily (Arctiinae). The beautiful bear was butterfly of the year 2010.
¿Los animales invertebrados representan más del 95% de las especies animales del planeta?
Entre ellos destacan los 
crustáceos, como cangrejos, camarones y langostas, esenciales para el equilibrio ecológico en ecosistemas acuáticos.
Su diversidad y adaptabilidad los convierten en protagonistas de la vida en nuestro planeta. 
¡La #Biodiversity del mundo natural no sería la misma sin ellos!
#Invertebrates #Crustaceans #NatureFacts #EcoMastodon #WildlifeEducation #InsectsOfMastodon
Bonus #BugOfTheDay – a forest bug or red-legged shield bug (Pentatoma rufipes), unfortunately deceased before I found it.
At least now it will be immortalised on the interwebs 
As seen atop the Königstuhl this afternoon.
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Shadowplay 
A silver-washed fritillary (Argynnis paphia) making the most of the sunshine on all fronts, after days of cloud & rain.
As seen at the @mpi_astro atop the Königstuhl this afternoon 
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Quick phone snap of a firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus) this morning, shown this way because it looks like some mad insect tiki god 
Wild fact about the firebug: if they’re brought up on European newspapers, they become adults as normal 
But on American newspapers, they stay juvenile for much longer & never reach maturity 
I’m not making that up – it’s a hormonal thing
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A glimpse of a female pellucid hoverfly (Volucella pellucens) deep in a darker part of the garden this morning.
Known in German as the Gemeine Waldschwebfliege, these flies are quite common, but it has been a few years since I've photographed one. Not a great shot, but I'll be on the look-out now & hope to grab some better ones 
FWIW, this is another wasp/hornet mimic that also parasitises them
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Bonus #BugOfTheDay – a rather lovely shot (even if I do say so myself ) of a female marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) this evening.
Taken just after another heavy rain shower – few of the usual suspects had reemerged into the garden yet, but this plucky little lady was already making her flower rounds again.
You can see a few drops of water on her wings, along with some specks of pollen.
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And on the drone fly front, a few not so good pictures snatched between showers to show that we do indeed have males, not just the females as posted on the last two days.
The clue is in the eyes – in males, they touch, while in females they're separated.
Two pictures of a male common drone fly (Eristalis tenax) & one of a male tapered drone fly (Eristalis pertinax).
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Still alternating between sun & showers here, but the insects have to make a living somehow
Something new today – a female lesser hornet hoverfly or wasp plumehorn (Volucella inanis). In German, it's the Gebänderte Waldschwebfliege or banded forest hoverfly 
This wasp/hornet-mimic hoverfly lays its its eggs in the nests of genuine wasps & hornets, & its larvae are ectoparasites of theirs
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Bonus #BugOfTheDay – a dock bug (Coreus marginatus), seen in one of its later nymph stages.
For comparison, I'm also reposting a picture of an adult dock bug, taken exactly a month ago today.
One major difference is that the adult has wings, although I doubt that any foul chemical energy drinks from Austria were involved 
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Another day, another female common drone fly (Eristalis tenax).
But this is not the one I photographed yesterday (added for comparison) – today's is darker, with only hints of the orange spots on the second tergite (abdomen segment) & no strong orange stripe below.
Apparently the orange markings are highly variable & depend on the temperature at the time of pupation.
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A rather cool & soggy day – it started raining again, just as I'm typing this – so only a few bees in the garden.
And this bee mimic, a common drone fly (Eristalis tenax). From the darker colour scheme & separated eyes, it appears to be a female.
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What is this, a leaf lobster?
(You may need to click to see the full vertical image)
A rainy, warm, & muggy day, but good to be back among the insects in the garden after several days in Sweden
Something new today: a female meadow brown butterfly (Maniola jurtina), happily feeding upside down in the flowers 
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