Most interesting photographs and story ... thanks for posting

dunk

In "Complex Worlds from Simpler Nervous Systems", MIT Press 2004, edited by Frederick R. Prete, page 81 in the section titled "In the Mind of a Hunter: The Visual World of the Praying Mantis", by Karl Kral and Frederick R. Prete, appears this paragraph: The physiological acceptance angle of the rha...

Not sure about IDs but the passengers might be 'hitching a lift' to pastures new?

BW

dunk

Thank you Mark; I enjoyed observing this specimen as it basked in the mid-afternoon November Sun; it might still be active because the weather is still mild.

BW

dunk

Thanks for the link. Very interesting. Almost all of the things they found could be just as well explained by the digestive hypothesis, but the fact that they do this bubbling behavior with higher frequency as soon as the lights go out does suggest that at least one of its functions is to cool the ...

Male Common Darter dragonfly Sun basking on limestone cliffs at Langdyke Countryside Trust's 'Swaddywell Pit' reserve near Peterborough Cambridgeshire UK, November 6 2020 ... probably the UK's last active dragonfly species of the year. Male-Common-Darter-6-Nov-Swaddy-Cliffs-J5-30-110.jpg Nikon 1 J5 ...

The whole 'evaporative cooling' process: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-23670-2

dunk

Lou Jost wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 14, 2020 9:21 pm

Very interesting. I wonder why the fly doesn't just move to the shade though. That would be far more efficient than this laborious process.

Also part of its digestive process.

dunk

Flesh-Fly-Inflating-its-Cooling-Bubble-PF.jpg Flesh Fly observed November 6 2020 at Langdyke Countryside Trust's, 'Swaddywell Pit Nature Reserve' near Peterborough UK. The Flesh Fly was basking on a warm limestone cliff face in the heat of the afternoon Sun and continually 'regurgitating' and then ...

Thank you Rik ... This is a lnk to the Langdyke Countryside Trust's Facebook page and my Ivy Mining Bees video ... shot with the Nikon 1 J5 / Nikkor 70-300mm etc. as illustrated above ... https://www.facebook.com/duncansargentk ... 5921282743

BW

dunk

Langdyke Countryside Trust UK 'Swaddywell Nature Reserve' Ivy Mining Bee (Colletes hederae) observation trip 21 September. Camera and tripod set up on limestone cliff slope habitat where the solitary bees nest in cliff crevices. They also excavate (mine) nest holes in the ground. Species was new to ...

Superb images ... especially the katydid ... looking very fed up with the weather!

BW

dunk

Very good pictures of a handsome insect. Besides predators, I suggest that you be on the look out for parasites, including kleptoparasites. These will be various insects that sneak in and lay eggs in the nest, eating the provisions and sometimes the bee larva. The parasites can be flies and even ot...

https://www.mwclassic.com/product-categ ... ved-11-09/

MW Classic have just listed Tominon / Polaroid 127/4.7 and 75/4.5 lenses

dunk

The Ivy Mining Bee (Colletes hederae) was first recorded in Southern Europe in 1993 and in Dorset UK in 2001 ... since when the species has spread across England and parts of Wales. I discovered a colony at Langdyke Countryside Trust's Swaddywell Nature Reserve near Peterborough , Cambridgeshire, UK...