May bugs!

[ CW: spiders ]

It continues to be cold at the moment, so there still aren't many large insects around the garden, but I nonetheless managed to get quite a lot of bug photos this month! Most of them will get their own dedicated blog post later, so for now here's few bonus bugs I couldn't fit in anywhere else.


This caterpillar was speeding through the grass; I only managed to get clear photos when it had slowed down a bit. I don't know why but watching it made me realise that I actually find caterpillars kinda gross??? I've kept pet snails, held a tarantula, and spoon-fed jelly to a wasp, but caterpillars are apparently where my brain draws the line.

Despite that, I still think they're cool. I particularly like this one's tiny pin-like legs near the front of the body.

A small grey caterpillar crawling on blades of grass. It has a few tiny hairs all over its body and very small legs near its head.

I found this snail out and about on a rainy morning. I have clearer photos of the snail itself, but this was the only photo that gave a good view of the leaf they were eating. They've had a good feast!

A common garden snail sitting on the edge of a plant pot. In the background you can see the leaf the snail has been eating. There is a large chunk missing on the left side.

More hoverflies! I think I photographed this species last year but I'm showing them again because I'm really happy with how this photo came out. As a little bonus, you can see two little aphids hanging out on the flower head as well.

A close up photo of white flower. Resting on the flower head is a large black hoverfly with lighter-coloured banding running across its body.

Mosquitoes are cool! Ever since finding their larvae last year I've started to really appreciate these guys; they're just a fun shaped bug, with long gangly legs and a hunched-back. Unfortunately they're fairly skittish and quite hard to get a clear photo of so this is the best I've got for now.

Occasionally one will land on my coat or gloves, but I've never been able to observe them long enough to get a good understanding of what they are trying to do. I would guess they're attempting to bite me but I'm not sure if this even is a species that feeds on humans, and there have to be better ways of doing it than going through multiple thick layers of fabric.

A blurry photo of a mosquito clinging to the leaves of a plant.

And finally, a spider! At first I thought it might be a flower crab spider like the ones I photographed last year, but this one had actually set up a web in front of the flower head so it's maybe some kind of orb-weaver. It's eyes are very cute!

A small yellowish spider resting in the head of a white flower. It has two single eyes on the sides of its head and then two pairs of eyes in the middle.