Insects also feel at home on Baltrum 😊

🪲 I encountered the mottled dingy-brown click beetle (Agrypnus murinus) quite frequently. Of course, it also showed me what lies beneath its beautiful wings! The adult beetles feed on grasses and leaves, while the larvae are predatory.

🪲 The dune darkling beetle (Phylan gibbus) is a relative of the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor). This small black beetle inhabits the coastal dunes (grey dunes) from Spain to southern Norway and is a flightless omnivore.

🪲 On the campsite, thousands of amorous garden chafers (Phyllopertha horticola) were buzzing around. They find exactly what they need, as they feed on oak and birch leaves as well as rose blossoms. These plants are very common on Baltrum.

🪲 The alder leaf beetle (Agelastica alni) also finds plenty of suitable food on Baltrum. Although it primarily feeds on the leaves of alders (Alnus), it also eats the leaves of creeping willows (Salix repens) and downy birches (Betula pubescens), which are common on the small island, and occasionally those of bird cherries (Prunus padus).

🦋 The red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) is a strikingly large migratory butterfly. Here it is feeding on the blossoms of a bird cherry (Prunus padus).

🦋 Blue like the sky is the common blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus). It's quite cute. It finds plenty of flowers on Baltrum, for example clover and thistles. I encountered this one on a salt meadow.

🪰 Flies are, of course, native to Baltrum as well. I believe the small fly on the dog rose (Rosa canina) is a species of Phaonia. However, it is not easy to say for sure.

🪰 The large blowfly on the windowpane is probably a Calliphora vicina, at least the brown mandible area suggests so. It finds many bird and rabbit carcasses on the island for its larvae – of which I have seen quite a few.

🐝 On a common bugloss (Anchusa officinalis), I saw a buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) climbing from flower to flower. Was its rear already too fat to fly?

🍯 I also spotted honeybees (Apis mellifera). Of course, people on Baltrum don’t want to do without their own honey.

🤗 For a more nuanced discussion, please feel free to use the comments section, private messages or the anonymous contact form on my website.