Nigel's Right

Its not only birds that can make your day at the Wetlands

Another great shot! Lovely capture of Small Skipper feeding.

Al, I was originally going to post this beetle with the male  'Thick Legged Flower Beetle' as a separate post but as it fitted in so nicely with your female and as you have started such a nice thread with 'Nigel's Right' I thought it would be best here. This little beauty was on the opposite side of the lane from the green one. I had to cheat a little to get the best shot as the 'bowl' of the flower was upright and you could only see the side of the insect so I gently repositioned it to face towards the camera. It didn't seem to mind and carried on feeding so I had plenty of time to compose the shots - much more difficult with a subject like your Skipper!

It is a Longhorn beetle Rutpela Maculata, but knowing how quickly these things can become an issue it was formerly known as Strangalia Maculata also listed as Leptura Maculata (strange because Rutpela is an anagram of Leptura!), the Yellow and Black Longhorn Beetle, the Harlequin Beetle, the Spotted Longhorn and probably others that I haven't mentioned.

Great shots John, and a little "Gardening" is acceptable to get the shot, as long as it doesn't spook the subject  :)

The renaming of the scientific names of the insect world is an ongoing thing, so there is bound to be an issue

I've been spending a bit of time on the BWARS Site recently and there is hardly a species account that doesn't have multiple Latin names given ... I tend to use the Linnaeus version unless there is a good reason not to, but of course all are valid.

I suppose the latest should be the one we use as this should have the most validity with the DNA profiles ETC, that were not around in the past, to set species into the correct family, though I find a cetain affinity for using Linnaeus :)  .

Brilliant John

I had one of the spotted longhorns in the garden this week, your picture is much better than mine! ;o))

Ant

Still not sure about the thread title, it's not a phrase I am used to LOL, (Don't think I ever heard it in 25 years of marriage :p )

25 years .....Just a learner ive not heard Alans right in 46 years :-)