Well, I didn't have that on my May Day bingo card – a predatory jumping spider impersonating a noble worker ant 😱

[markmccaughrean@mastodon.social]

Well, I didn't have that on my May Day bingo card – a predatory jumping spider impersonating a noble worker ant

This is likely Leptorchestes berolinensis ( Großer Ameisenspringer), & from its shape & the way it was running up & down the rose leaves, I was sure it was a large ant.

Then I downloaded the photos & counted the legs

#Heidelberg
#Photography ️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay
#MacroPhotography
#ArachnidsOfMastodon ️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

[markmccaughrean@mastodon.social]

There are apparently several species of jumping spider that impersonate ants in this way, & I have to say that both body shape-wise & activity-wise, it's a brilliant piece of mimicry. Even through the macro lens, I didn't realise that it wasn't an ant in real-time.

OK, didn't help that it was constantly scampering up and down, just like an ant, & I'm happy I even got one half-decent shot.

[markmccaughrean@mastodon.social]

@b_age Apparently this part of the Upper Rhine Plain is a bit of a hotspot for this species, but until this afternoon, I have to admit that I had no idea that there were ant-mimic jumping spiders. Bonkers.

[markmccaughrean@mastodon.social]

That spider isn't the only thing going under false pretences in the garden today.

This is a nomad bee, a genus evolved to impersonate wasps – likely Gooden's nomad bee (Nomada goodeniana; Goodens Wespenbiene), although I've learned from @albertcardona that identifying arthropods from photos alone is more fraught than I expected.

#Heidelberg
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#BugOfTheDay
#MacroPhotography
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology

[amenonsen@flipping.rocks]

@markmccaughrean This is awesome! I once found an ant-mimicing spider on my spectacles once (different species, of course), and I didn't get as good a look at that one as these lovely photos of yours! (And that's not only because I had to take my spectacles off.)

[markmccaughrean@mastodon.social]

At first, I thought this tattered butterfly would be easy to identify, despite only getting this one poor shot before it flew away.

Looks like it's genus Lycaena & specifically the small copper, L. phlaeas. But the pattern of black marks on the forewing isn't quite right, so I wonder if it's just an aberration or another species.

#Heidelberg
#Photography ️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay
#MacroPhotography
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology

[markmccaughrean@mastodon.social]

And finally, hopefully something less strange or controversial – a large buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris; Dunkle Erdhummel).

They've been flying around the garden for quite some time, but rarely staying still for long enough to get half-decent pictures.

#Heidelberg
#Photography ️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay
#MacroPhotography
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology

[saarmuller@mastodon.social]

@markmccaughrean @albertcardona It is certainly unreliable if I try to do it by photo. But if you have photos from all sides what else do you need? Smell? Sound? A movie showing how it moves? Or is only a dead one plus a microscope sufficient?

[markmccaughrean@mastodon.social]

@saarmuller @albertcardona The latter, I think. There are many sets of similar species which can only be differentiated microscopically, it seems.