Surprise Spring Discovery, Pt. 3 - _TNY_7214
Back on May 15th of 2023 I went on another trip to Åva-Stensjödal, in search of more bugs on the willow flowers like a week before that, but they turned out to be completely overblossomed by then and there were literally zero bugs that I could find on them.
As I was walking down the gentle slope towards the path next to the Nedre Dammen pond, I noticed quite a lot of smallish wolf spiders running out from in front of me. Typically, those aren't really that interesting to shoot, but since I've shot a beautiful agonum beetle in the same place (www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53470545480/), I looked a little extra and that's when I realised that some of the spiders in fact weren't spiders - but peacock beetles!
These are tiny (~8 mm / .3") predatory beetles that hunt using speed - sort of like miniature tiger beetles, but unlike those they don't fly away when cornered. Shooting them is still somewhat of an excercise in futility, since they rarely ever stay still for more than a second or two before they're off again.
I've had some success shooting these when I had my son with me as a herder, keeping check on where they run as I try to nail a shot, but this time I was alone so it took quite a lot of time to get some decent shots.
This is a copper peacock beetle (Elaphrus cupreus) and interestingly, the coloured pits on the elytra appear more blue on this one than some I've found earlier where they are purple instead.
Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53725818853/
Part 2 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53746020315/
I have an album with all the peacock beetle shots I've posted so far here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/albums/72177720309780234
Surprise Spring Discovery, Pt. 3 - _TNY_7214
Back on May 15th of 2023 I went on another trip to Åva-Stensjödal, in search of more bugs on the willow flowers like a week before that, but they turned out to be completely overblossomed by then and there were literally zero bugs that I could find on them.
As I was walking down the gentle slope towards the path next to the Nedre Dammen pond, I noticed quite a lot of smallish wolf spiders running out from in front of me. Typically, those aren't really that interesting to shoot, but since I've shot a beautiful agonum beetle in the same place (www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53470545480/), I looked a little extra and that's when I realised that some of the spiders in fact weren't spiders - but peacock beetles!
These are tiny (~8 mm / .3") predatory beetles that hunt using speed - sort of like miniature tiger beetles, but unlike those they don't fly away when cornered. Shooting them is still somewhat of an excercise in futility, since they rarely ever stay still for more than a second or two before they're off again.
I've had some success shooting these when I had my son with me as a herder, keeping check on where they run as I try to nail a shot, but this time I was alone so it took quite a lot of time to get some decent shots.
This is a copper peacock beetle (Elaphrus cupreus) and interestingly, the coloured pits on the elytra appear more blue on this one than some I've found earlier where they are purple instead.
Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53725818853/
Part 2 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53746020315/
I have an album with all the peacock beetle shots I've posted so far here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/albums/72177720309780234