heidelberg

6d

Down from 30ºC yesterday to 20ºC today, but still mostly sunny – hardly "cold" as such.

And yet, the garden was almost devoid of visible insect activity – most peculiar.

This female common drone fly (Eristalis tenax) was out there though, feeding on the ivy, so not a complete bust 🤷‍♂️

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

A large fly seen from above on out out-of-focus ivy flower, the latter mostly green and circular, with many small yellow stamens. The fly has well-separated large dark brown compound eyes, a hairy and dusted dark bronze thorax with lighter scutellum, and a mostly black abdomen, with two dark orange patches on the sides of the first tergite. The wings are clear with dark veins and a hint of brown cloudiness.

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20h

A few evening smash & grabs, meaning fairly poor pictures taken quickly and/or from a distance 🤷‍♂️

First is a female yellow-haired sun fly (Myathropa florea). The distinctive thorax markings give it its 🇩🇪 name, Totenkopfschwebfliege, although I also like the English alternative, Batman hoverfly 🦇🙂

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

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1d

Then several flies feeding on the ivy:

A common drone fly (Eristalis tenax; 🇩🇪 Mistbiene [not as pretty as it sounds]), which are frequently seen in my garden, & a male face fly (Musca autumnalis; 🇩🇪 Herbstfliege), quickly & poorly grabbed with the wrong camera settings before it flew off 🙈

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

A large drone fly seen side-on on an green ivy flower. The fly has a white face, black compound eyes, and hairs all over its head. The thorax is likewise very golden hairy over a dark bronze. The abdomen is black and gold, tapering towards the end, with many fine white hairs. The legs are dark, albeit with golden hairs on the hind femora and tibia – this is a marker for E tenax relative to most of the other Eristalis species.

A shaky picture of a small fly seen from above on closed yellow-green ivy flowers. The fly has red compound eyes close together, marking it as male. The thorax is black with longitudinal grey stripes and black bristles. The wings are clear with hints of amber towards the base. The abdomen is black and yellow, with a black stripe running towards the tip which is black and white with relatively small black bristles.

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1d

Something old, something new ...

First, one of the more elusive Cylindromyia flies for me, albeit fairly common in this area.

This is a female Cylindromyia bicolor (🇩🇪 Zweifarbige Raupenfliege), calmly posing in the rose bush.

Easily ID'd, as it lacks the black abdomen tip most other species have.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

A side-on picture of the same fly in the same setting, but now with the orange abdomen in focus, showing the many short black hairs and the black bristles along the top of the tergites, as well as on the sides towards the end. The black band at the top of the abdomen is seen to extend along the top of the second tergite and slightly into the third. Hints of grey-white bands are seen at the ends of the second and third tergites, on the dorsal side.

A view from behind and above, now in sunlight, showing the orange cylindrical abdomen with its many fine black hairs and much thicker, longer black bristles. The grey-white bands on the dorsal sides of T2 and T3 are seen, as is the longitudinal black stripe that extends the the edge of T2, with a brief extension into T3. The tip of the abdomen remains orange, identifying this as Cylindromyia bicolor.

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242d

I’d like to report a murder, officer 🐦‍⬛

Finally made it out for my first ride of 2026 – 53km on a relatively warm & sunny Friday afternoon after a fortnight of cold, snow, ice, & wet 🤷‍♂️

#CyclingLife 🚴‍♂️
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷

A bare deciduous tree in the flat countryside, seen with the setting sun behind it, and with some slight cloud around the horizon. There are many crows flying away from the tree, shortly after deciding to move somewhere new.

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50d

🍻 | Treffs & mehr bei den Skeptix

Der August startet heiß, also warum nicht ein paar Skeptiker:innen auf ein kühles Spaßgetränk treffen? In den kommenden Wochen gibt's z.B. Treffs in #Göttingen, #Dresden und #Hannover sowie einen Talk bei @sitpkoeln .

Alle Infos findet ihr unter https://skeptix.org/events/

#Karlsruhe #Augsburg #Hamburg #Heidelberg #Berlin #München #Untersberg #Köln

Grafik mit gelbem Hintergrund, überzogen von einem diagonalen Muster aus dem Wort "SKEPTIX". Oben steht in großen violetten Buchstaben "Skeptix vor Ort". Links unten ist ein stilisierter, violetter Vogel zu sehen, vor ihm eine Sprechblase, in der steht: "Meet the Skeptix!".

Grafik mit gelbem Hintergrund und "SKEPTIX"-Muster. Zu sehen sind die Städte und Termine für die nächsten Treffen: "Karlsruhe - 6. August", "Augsburg - 6. August", "Hamburg - 9. August", "Göttingen - 9. August", "Dresden - 11. August", "Heidelberg - 11. August". Darunter ist ein stilisierter violetter Vogel zu sehen, der unter einem weiß-violetten Sonnenschirm in einem Planschbecken sitzt. Vor ihm eine Sprechblase, in der steht "Alle Infos gibt's auf skeptix.org/events!"

Grafik mit gelbem Hintergrund und "SKEPTIX"-Muster. Zu sehen sind die Städte und Termine für die nächsten Treffen: "Berlin - 13. August", "Köln - Skeptics in the Pub, 13. August", "München - 14. August", "Hannover - 15. August", "Untersberg - 15. August". Darunter ist ein stilisierter violetter Vogel zu sehen, der unter einem weiß-violetten Sonnenschirm in einem Planschbecken sitzt. Vor ihm eine Sprechblase, in der steht "Alle Infos gibt's auf skeptix.org/events!"

Grafik mit gelbem Hintergrund und Muster aus dem Wort "SKEPTIX". In der Mitte in violetter Schrift der Text: "Kein Treff in deiner Stadt? Jetzt selbst gründen! Mail an stammtische@skeptix.org". Unten links eine stilisierte violette Vogel-Illustration, die mit fragender Mine den Text darüber anschaut, daneben ein großes Fragezeichen.

Edited 50d ago

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107d

🍻 | Treffs & mehr bei den Skeptix

Startet mit unseren lokalen SkepTeams in den Juni! Treffs gibt's z.B. in #Berlin, #Köln, #Göttingen und #Hamburg. Außerdem ist unser Team aus dem #Ruhrpott auch dieses Wochenende wieder an einem Info-Stand in #Dortmund für euch da.

Alle Infos findet ihr unter https://skeptix.org/events/
#Dresden #Heidelberg #Mūnchen

Grafik mit gelbem Hintergrund, überzogen von einem diagonalen Muster aus dem Wort "SKEPTIX". Oben steht in großen violetten Buchstaben "Skeptix vor Ort". Links unten ist ein stilisierter, violetter Vogel zu sehen, vor ihm eine Sprechblase, in der steht: "Meet the Skeptix!".

Grafik mit gelbem Hintergrund und "SKEPTIX"-Muster. Zu sehen sind die Städte und Termine für die nächsten Treffen: "Karlsruhe - 4. Juni", "Augsburg - 4.Juni", "Dortmund - Info-Stand, 6. Juni", "Dreden - 9. Juni", "Heidelberg - 9. Juni" und "Göttingen - 9. Juni". Darunter ein stilisierter violetter Vogel mit einer Sprechblase, in der steht "Alle Infos gibt's auf skeptix.org/events!"

Grafik mit gelbem Hintergrund und "SKEPTIX"-Muster. Zu sehen sind die Städte und Termine für die nächsten Treffen: "Köln - 10. Juni", "Berlin - 11. Juni", "München - 12. Juni", "Online-Treff - Überregional, 13. Juni" und "Hamburg - 14.Juni". Darunter ein stilisierter violetter Vogel mit einer Sprechblase, in der steht "Alle Infos gibt's auf skeptix.org/events!"

Grafik mit gelbem Hintergrund und Muster aus dem Wort "SKEPTIX". In der Mitte in violetter Schrift der Text: "Kein Treff in deiner Stadt? Jetzt selbst gründen! Mail an stammtische@skeptix.org". Unten links eine stilisierte violette Vogel-Illustration, die mit fragender Mine den Text darüber anschaut, daneben ein großes Fragezeichen.

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16d

🍻 | Treffs & mehr bei den Skeptix

Der September steht vor der Tür, also wird es Zeit für neue Termine! Diesmal gibt es einen neuen Treff in #Siegen und Treffs in #Köln, #Dresden, #München und mehr.

Alle Infos findet ihr unter https://skeptix.org/events/

#siegen #koln #dresden #munchen #karlsruhe #heidelberg #augsburg #hamburg

Grafik mit gelbem Hintergrund, überzogen von einem diagonalen Muster aus dem Wort "SKEPTIX". Oben steht in großen violetten Buchstaben "Skeptix vor Ort". Links unten ist ein stilisierter, violetter Vogel zu sehen, vor ihm eine Sprechblase, in der steht: "Meet the Skeptix!".

Grafik mit gelbem Hintergrund und "SKEPTIX"-Muster. Zu sehen sind die Städte und Termine für die nächsten Treffen: "Göttingen - 9. September", "Berlin - 10. September", "München - 11. September", "Hamburg - 13. September" und "Online - 13. September." Darunter ein stilisierter violetter Vogel mit einer Sprechblase, in der steht "Alle Infos gibt's auf skeptix.org/events!"

Grafik mit gelbem Hintergrund und "SKEPTIX"-Muster. Zu sehen sind die Städte und Termine für die nächsten Treffen: "Köln - 2. September", "Karlsruhe - 3. September", "Augsburg - 3. September", "Siegen - Neuer Treff! 7. September", "Heidelberg - 8. September" und "Dresden - 8. September." Darunter ein stilisierter violetter Vogel mit einer Sprechblase, in der steht "Alle Infos gibt's auf skeptix.org/events!"

Edited 16d ago

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5d

When the larger arthropods refuse to come out & play, attention turns to the tinier garden creatures 🕵️‍♂️

This small sap or pollen beetle is in genus Cychramus, most likely C luteus, the Brauner Glanzkäfer in 🇩🇪

True to its name, it was making the most of the goldenrod before I picked it up.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

A small beetle seen from above, making its way through the light coloured hairs on the back of my freckled hand. The beetle is a lighter amber brown up front, on the head and thorax, with black compound eyes and antennae that end in small black "petals". The surface of the head and thorax is dimpled, with fine light hairs on the sides of the latter. The abdomen is darker brown, again with light hairs along the slide of a dimpled body. There is quite a lot of yellow pollen on the beetle.

The same beetle on some yellow goldenrod flowers. It is mostly seen from behind and the side, showing the darker chestnut brown abdomen with the fine dimples and light hairs. The legs are also brown.

A more side-on picture of the beetle on the flowers again, also showing the thorax in a bit more detail.

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5d

Look, ma – it's my shadow!

This jumping spider was patrolling the ivy where many insects are flying today.

ObsIdentify is 100% sure that it's Evarcha falcata, but I'm siding with iNaturalist's 98.4% confidence that it's Carrhotus xanthogramma (🇩🇪 Wipfelspringer) – females come in many colour forms.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#ArachnidsOfMastodon 🕷️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

The same spider seen from above, showing the contrast in colour between the prosoma (different shades of brown with some darker patterning now visible) and the opisthosoma (a more uniform red-brown with small dark markings at the base of the long, fine, black hairs, but only slight banding patterns otherwise). Overall, the legs more resemble the prosoma in colouration.

The same spider seen from in front, with the classic jumping spider curious stare from its two central large eyes and the smaller side pair. Those are slightly out-of-focus, while the palps covered in white hairs are better seen. The many dark hairs poking up from the top of the prosoma, giving the spider its punk look, are also partly visible, but out of focus.

Edited 5d ago

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4d

Sorry – awful photos, but the only way I could get them was by holding the camera high above my head & semi-blindly tapping on the fold-out screen to take a shot 🙄

But still worth sharing, IMO, as they show a male Dexia vacua, a tachnid fly species that's very rare except, it seems, in my garden 🤷‍♂️🙂

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

A long-legged fly standing on a green ivy leaf, seen from behind and above. The focus is on the fly's wings and tapering abdomen, where each tergite is banded in light brown, medium brown, and black, with many small black hairs. There are also lots of larger black bristles, and a clear indication that this is Dexia vacua, not the much more Dexiosoma caninum is that there are strong bristles in the middle of the tergites, not just at the edges. Similarly, the wing venation confirms the ID: the median vein extends from the horizontal m-cu vein further than the remaining distance from its end to the trailing edge of the wing. The median vein appendix is also short, as required. The rest of the fly is out of focus, but a light brown colour is seen on the thorax and dark red compound eyes are seen beyond.

A shot from the same perspective, but now the thorax and head are more in focus. The thorax is mostly a light yellow-brown, with some short, small longitudinal black stripes. Black bristles are visible on the sides of the thorax, but it is also just possible to make out that there are some black bristles on the part of the thorax ahead of the suture, another Dexia vacua marker. The long hind legs are seen to be brown towards the top, getting darker below.

A picture more from above, but unfortunately cropped when taken, with the fly's head out of shot at the top. It's still useful though to confirm the pre-sutural thoracic bristles, the median discal bristles, and the wing venation, all indicating Dexia vacua.

Finally a shaky side-on shot, showing the features mentioned above, plus the very long legs. The head is also visible, including the central facial ridge in a cream colour, another Dexia vacua marker.

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3d

One of my favourite WTF😱 insects seen earlier today.

It's a buffalo treehopper (Stictocephala bisonia; 🇩🇪 Büffelzikade).

And although bison are native in Europe as well as North America, this namesake isn't – it's an invasive species which first arrived from over the pond around a century ago.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

A small insect seen on some green leaves. The view is more or less head on, showing the peculiar large flat face which tapes back into a triangle over the top, and into two horns, one on each side. The insect is mostly green in this view with dimpling on its face, while the edges of the face and the horns are yellow with red and black tips. The insect has black and grey compound eyes on either side of its head and two smaller red ocelli between them. The back can't be seen well, but tapers into clear wings. The insect has green legs which turn orange at the end.

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2d

Spider fans – I need your help!

This tiny one is a juvenile orb weaver, but despite the apparently distinctive pattern of spots and patches, I can't make a good genus-level ID, let alone species 😱

Some common features with each of Araniella, Enoplognatha, & Mangora, but nothing definitive.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#ArachnidsOfMastodon 🕷️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

A small spider seen from above and to one side, sitting in the middle of its web. The spider is mostly yellow green, including the prosoma and legs, while the back of the opisthosoma is textured brown with pairs of yellow-green patches between, all bordered by five distinct black spots on each side.

Edited 2d ago

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2d

Spotted this tiny ~2mm leafhopper this afternoon with a pretty colour scheme.

Likely subgenus Neoaliturus, but a species ID would need a genital examination 🍆

The most "common" in DE (26 observations on iNat) is N fenestratus (🇩🇪 Trauerzirpe), but N guttulatus or v rare N albilacustris are possible.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

A very small leafhopper seen side on on a green leaf. The overall colour of the head, pronutum, and wings is black, but with many small and larger spots in light yellow, white, and light blue, especially towards the end of the wings. The legs are black at the top, more amber below, with many white spines. The eyes are a deep crimson red.

The same leafhopper seen from above, showing the transverse yellow "wrinkles" on the pronutum, three yellow dots on the scutellum, and then a symmetric pattern of three pairs of blue-white spots down the ridge of the wings, with a window pattern of larger blue-white patches framed in black further along the wings. There are patches of blue on the wings too.

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1d

An evening curiosity.

This is a flea beetle in genus Psylliodes & as it was on dried brassica, best guess is P chrysocephala, the cabbage-stem flea beetle (🇩🇪 Großer Rapserdfloh).

They're usually dark green, but can come in brown too (var anglica), albeit mostly in the UK & very rarely in DE in iNat.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
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A small beetle seen side on on a horizontal, light brown, dead plant stem. The beetle is shiny all over, with a lighter brown shade on the eyltra, darker on the pronutum, then a red-brown head with black compound eyes. The pronutum is very finely and lightly dimpled, while the elytra have stronger dimples under the shiny surface. The front and mid-legs are mid-brown with fine white hairs, while the hind legs have large femora which are darker brown, and also have fine white hairs. The antennae are out of focus.

The same beetle, again seen from the side, but slightly turned away from the camera at the head end. The same general features are seen, along with some details in one of the antennae, which have many V-shaped segments and some fine white hairs. The underside and end of the abdomen is seen, also covered in many fine white hairs. The sinuous curve of the lower edge of the elytra is clear, coming down from the pronutum, then rising up again over the chunky femora, before descending to the tip of the abdomen.

A view from a slightly elevated perspective, albeit still side on. The difference between the dark brown-green pronutum and the paler brown elytra is well see.

Finally, a view from behind and above, showing how the elytra taper to the hairy end of the abdomen, which sticks out slightly beyond the wing covers. The pale brown colour of the wings under the elytra is clearly seen, apart from the region near the back of the pronutum, where there is a darker V-shape. The dark, heavy femora are seen well from behind, as are the thick multi-segmented antennae.

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