Pollen and pollinaters

Can you name this Fly? If so, please leave a comment below.




Sunday, the weather was kind for once, yet my back and my neck were hammering down too much, and so I had to stay home unfortunately. Instead, I stuffed myself with fresh fruit with my large fruit salad with I make every Sunday.
I hoped the wind would stay similarly nice the next day, and although the wind was still quite full on to photograph Wild Flowers, I headed off. A few showers had passed and I hoped the dark clouds would look kind on me! As if!
This Knapweed had just opened, the fresh pollen has an attraaction to me as well as to these Insects. The pollen stands out and sparkles really, very hard to capture in photos though.

Althuogh the photos of the Fly weren't that hard in the strengthening wind, this Bee was a bit late, and as you can see, keeping flower and Insect in the same frame was getting harder and more difficult.

So my apologies for quality. What did catch my eye though,was all the white on this Bee. White bands around the abdomen, I do see regularly, but not a Bee with white thorax as well as a white abdomen!. Any ideasto the specie?? Let me know, please! See the comment box underneath this post.




















Purple Loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria

Long legs and a couple of flyers too.

If you know any identities of any of these species, could you leave a comment in the white box below, please?

One of the many spiders in the garden. Taking full advantage of the winged critters which get entangled into their webs.



OK, I know; last post featured Spiders too. With all the rain we've had, they are the most prominent among the leaves of the Nettles and Bramble, as they set about repairing and weaving their webs.

Passing the Bramble (with nice juicy black berries at the moment) I spotted this Spider having a big meal out of this Fly, which she had wrapped earlier.)


Garden spider?
Usually it is only the undersides you get to see of Spiders as they sit in their webs.




This scary, yet colourful, Fly was big t 20-222mm. I spotted it in one of the Hebes at the garden at respite, where I was searching for Inects. normally you see very few about the garden, other than houseflies, that is.
It was very orange, which was lovely against the little green leaf of the Hebe. I was surprised to find any Invertebrates there at all; hebes look not very Insect friendly to me! There were some little spiders among the branches also, so there must be food.

While I sat taking photos of Ladybird A, on the right leaf, Ladybird B, here on the left leaf, came running up the stem, around each leaf, until it stopped to catch a breath of Carbon dioxide. (from my breath) not particularly fresh, I'd think!
Anyway, these are two 7-spot Ladybirds, Coccinella 7-puncta
Apparently, the C-7, as the 7 spot is the specie is called also, is the most common Ladybird in Europe.

This Insect, is a stranger to me; it looks as if it is neither hoverfly, nor hopper either. it moves from leaf to leaf with such speed, that i only see it, when it is almost leaving the 2nd leaf, for number 3. Getting a picture was very difficult indeed.
Any ideas as to its identity? I'd really welcome any of these in the comment box, underneath this post.