Green shield bug,
Palomena prasina
(07/2021 in Oberursel)


Little stinker in its fourth instar. Two moults remain until adulthood. It's a very common European species. You can find them from North Africa across Europe to Central Asia. It prefers to live on deciduous trees (linden, alder), bushes, nettles and thistles. I found this one below a linden tree. In German we call them Grüne Stinkwanze (green stink bug). My friends from North America have a very similar bug with that name (Chinavia hilaris). But they differ much in color in their larval stage and have a few small differences as adults. Both species are member of the Pentatomidae family, generally called shield bugs or stink bugs. They have in common that they release a pungent defensive spray when threatened, disturbed or crrrrushhhhed.💚

Huge and colorful Manneken Pis sculpture in Maasmechelen Village in July 2020.

The Manneken Pis is a landmark of Belgium. Its original is a 61 cm bronze sculpture, close to Brussels Grand Place. It was designed by Jerôme Duquesnoy in 1619 and depicts a naked boy peeing into a fountain.

The outlet center Maasmechelen Village is located about 20 km north of Maastricht. It's nice to walk through, but of course I wasn't there for shopping. Nearby you have interesting destinations like the National Park Hoge Kempen.🏞️

Clogmia albipunctata
🚽 Bathrom 🦋 moth 🦟 midge!

This cute member of the Psychodidae family can reach a length of 3-5 millimeters. It only lives about 12 days as an adult. If it doesn't slurp water or flower nectar, it just hangs on some walls or trees.✌️

It's distribution is worldwide in tropical and temperate areas. The origin of their distribution is unknown.

Their larvae live in aquatic environments and take about 18 days to turn into a pupa, which develops into an adult after 5 days.

Because of their fine water-repellent hairs, adults and larvae are difficult to drown and are not affected by contact with most water-borne toxins. They can also handle very high temperatures.

It rained last night. Good smells everywhere! What a beautiful Monday morning! 🌿🌞

African Penguin
(Spheniscus demersus)
2004 @dallaszoo 🏙️

The only penguin species of Africa. 🌍

It's expected to be extinct in the wild in a few years.⚰️

I wish we could just put a band-aid on everything... 🩹

Check @sanccob 🌠

Hold my hand.

My first attempt at making something artistic out of resin.
A lot has gone wrong, but the result is ok. It's my left hand that I made a negative imprint of with dentist silicone. The rest is by accident, because the imprint was not perfect and partially leaky. So the resin itself became creative. 😅

It's a present for someone who is going through tough times.

Taxi ride to the Lima Airport.🚖🛫

Feeling the force of nature!
🤩⛈️🌌

Great banded furrow bee (male)
Halictus scabiosae

(20.06.2020 in Oberursel, Germany)

Yesterday, on a rainy summer night, somewhere between kindergarten and cemetery, I met these two friends.😁

The snail is a garden snail (Cornu aspersum). A globally invasive species originally native to the Mediterranean region. It used to be assigned to the Roman snail, but represents a genus of its own. Like the Roman snail, this species is also bred as a food snail. Even to a greater extent than the Roman snail.🐌

The isopod is a common striped woodlouse (Philoscia muscorum). A very widespread species of woodlice in Europe. Because it can run exceptionally fast, it is called the fast woodlouse.💨

Both species have a beautiful eel line.❤️

Looks like the snail is the big boss (Jabba) and the isopod is his nimble sidekick who tells him the latest news from the neighborhood.🤣