Paul

Thank you John. Paul.

Thank you all. She was wanting to run - but if you place your hand in front of spiders, most of them stand still briefly, and hopefully, long enough to compose a shot or three... Paul.

Cheers Fogey. Paul.

She's a good size! Paul.

This is a female philodromus sp. spider on the bird feeder... Paul.

Thank you Denis. Paul.

Found her very late last night, just after midnight! I am assuming a recently emerged Buff Ermine Moth. It was on the fence but as I got close it flew and landed on the apple tree trunk which made it harder to get to. Paul.

Great choice - I loved that bokeh as soon as I saw it too ! Paul.

Cheers Geoff. The summer is coming, be it later than normal it feels... Paul.

I don't know how common they are, but I've never photographed one before. I think this is a Snout Mite - Bdellidae in the order of Trombidiformes (of which there are about 11 genera and at least 260 described species in Bdellidae). Believe me, this one was ALWAYS running - I'm astounded I got any images partially in focus! Either way - I'm really happy finding this bug! Size around <1mm. Paul.

Such a shame he won't land there again, sadly he'll have passed on to mayfly heaven by today. Nice find. Paul.

They look so pale compared to native snails. Paul.

Nice contrasts throughout - a nice B&W Paul.

Lovely bokeh too Denis. Paul.

Thanks Fuji. They unfortunately provide no real benefit - they can ruin plants (especially in the greenhouse) and offer little in the way of biodiversity - apart from maybe being a food source for something. Moreover, if you squish them they leave horrid red streaks! Paul.

Cheers Geoff. When they do stop, they are usually facing the wrong direction too... I managed just the one head-on photo! Paul.

Thank you Geoff Paul.

I find spider mites challenging - they are nearly always on the move and not very big... Paul.

Thank you both - it's a bizarre world in the world of the teenies! Paul.

So what you see here is the remains of an aphid, it's body attached to a podium created by a braconid wasp. This tiny parastic wasp finds a target host and deposits an egg inside it. This egg will be dormant until the host is big enough for the larva to hatch and then the wasp larva feeds on the insides of said host. Eventually, the parasitic wasp will emerge and fly away and so nature goes on... Paul.

ID agreed - they are a wonderful iridescent green - and fine to see as the blues and reds. Paul.

Yeah, much more obvious... Paul.

My pleasure Cheryl. Paul.

Thank you Cheryl & Geoff. I found a few on the garden fence tonight - added pics and a short mobile phone video - these again are Arachnida ( Acari - Mites ) - Oribatida (about 3 or 4 more of them). My You Tube video of the mites Paul.

Great choice, a good winner. Paul.