🐞🏘☃️ Why are ladybirds often found indoors in winter? Because the warmth attracts them. The problem is that there is no liquid or food in the house. A trap! Put ladybirds outside, even when it is cold. They will hibernate and wake up again in the spring. It is best to release them where they are not far from a protective hiding place, for example small gaps between objects outside that are protected from rain.

🔥✨️ Intuition isn't always positive or helpful. It relies on instinctive or automatic processes that don't always align with the current situation. The example of ladybugs seeking warmth in winter and dying because they end up in houses instead of going into hibernation illustrates well how intuitive responses can sometimes lead to negative or even fatal outcomes.

🧐 Why Intuition Can Be Flawed:

1. Evolutionary Basis: Intuition and instinctive behaviors are often rooted in mechanisms that have been evolutionarily advantageous. However, they are not always flexible enough to adapt to novel or artificial situations (like human homes).

2. Misinterpretation of Stimuli: Ladybugs perceive warmth in a house as a potential refuge, even though this misinterpretation of environmental cues can be deadly.

3. Automated Behavior: Intuition doesn’t involve conscious, reflective decision-making. It relies on patterns that often—but not always—lead to success.

Humans also experience flawed intuition. A well-known example is the availability heuristic, where people overestimate a danger because they've recently heard about a similar event, leading to irrational decisions.

Its effectiveness depends on how well the underlying patterns match the current situation.

In both cases—whether it's the ladybird seeking warmth in the wrong place or a person making a decision based on an emotional reaction rather than careful analysis—intuition can be both helpful and hazardous. Recognizing the limits of intuition, especially in new or unfamiliar situations, is key to making more informed decisions.

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

In contrast to most other tachinid flies, the larvae of the bug fly (Phasia hemiptera) do not parasitize on caterpillars but on stink bugs.

The male is easily identified by the wings with iridescent blue-black spots.

Beautiful! 🥰

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This bug knows how to get through life.✌️😎

Brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) trapped by a garden spider (Araneus diadematus).

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If insects can feel joy, what a wonderful world.🌺🐝

At least there are experiments that suggest something like fun in insects. For example, bumblebees like to play bumblebee ball.🏀🐝

But there are also observations in many other animal species.🐟🐸🐌🐎🦜

I like the idea of ​​happy insects buzzing around.
✨🦋🐞🐝🦗✨

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

Common flesh fly 🥩
(Sarcophaga species)

It is almost impossible to tell the species apart by their outward appearance, and many can only be reliably identified by microscopic examination of the males' genitals.🔬🔍

In Germany, the gray flesh fly (Sarcophaga carnaria) is particularly common. There are various reports on the diet of adult flies from flower nectar, honeydew and the fluids that form on dung and carrion. The different information may be due to the difficulty in identifying the species. There is also different information about the larvae. Some species lay the larvae on carcasses and dung, others on earthworm entrances, and the parasitic larvae then crawl into the earthworm to develop inside. Some species use snails and other animals as hosts.🐌

Humans can also be infected by some species, such as Sarcophaga barbata. The human larval infestation is called myasis and occurs mainly in tropical or subtropical regions.🤕

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🐞🌿 A ladybug nymph fell on my hand and clung to it tightly. 😅🤷‍♂️ I let it climb into a bush. Baby saved! 🤗

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Common wasps
(Vespula vulgaris)

🏚️💩 What the wasp carries out is dirty old nest material.

⚠️ Be careful around wasp nests. They can get very large and the ground unstable. When I was a kid, I saw another kid from the neighborhood step into a big wasp nest and get so badly stung that the ambulance had to come get him.

⚠️ One should avoid disturbing the nest and generally never breathe in their direction or move frantically.

⚠️ If you discover a nest that is in a threatening location, consult experts and don't take action yourself.

🌍 Wasps also play an important role in the ecosystem, although they are annoying and can be dangerous in some situations.

🐝 Wasps do not produce honey. Their larvae are fed with proteins. These secrete a sweet liquid that the queen feeds on. The adult wasps feed primarily on sugary foods, but they hunt other insects for the brood. Because sick and weak animals are easier prey, wasps help reduce the spread of diseases.

🕊️ I don't usually feel disturbed by the presence of wasps, at least I want the wasps to think so, and I'm fine with it. Every now and then I'm asked to dance while I want to eat outside in the summer. However, I just dodge them and don't hit them. And I never kill an animal for no reason.

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Sunflowers are my favorite flowers🌻 Honey bees and meadow bugs also love them 😊

The common meadow bug (Lygus pratensis) is a mirid bug. In January I introduced you to the mirid bug Deraeocoris ruber. Both wear a striking triangle on their backs. A major difference is that the meadow bug only sucks on plants.💚🥤

It is native to almost the entire northern hemisphere and is very common. Because they are attracted to light, they are often found around lamps or when they stray into your home.

Help them out again! It's important to be good to animals. And it goes down well with other people too. Yesterday I was walking to the grocery store and an aphid landed in my eye. A woman approaching me saw how I carefully placed the animal in a hedge and was totally impressed.🥰 Damn! Now I've revealed the aphid trick! 😜

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Box tree moth,
Cydalima perspectalis

Native to Asia, it has been invading Europe since the 2000s and increasingly the United States in recent years. It has no natural enemies in Europe and has already contributed to the loss of entire forest areas. The caterpillars are poisonous. In its homeland in Asia, the Asian hornet is a natural predator. Although the Asian hornet is also spreading more and more in Europe, this is also a problem, because the Asian hornet also hunts bees and the European bees are not as defensive as the Asian bees.

The appearance and disappearance of individual species can have far-reaching consequences not only for wildlife but also for human livelihoods.

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This little beauty is a mirid bug (Deraeocoris ruber)🤠🐞

They inhabit forests, but occur mainly on sunny forest edges and open areas.🌳🌞

Mirid bugs prey on various small arthropods such as caterpillars, but particularly aphids.🌿🐛
The prey is killed and sucked out by a sting that is also painful for humans.🧃😋

But that rarely happens.😄

The species is useful and harmless.🤗 However, nature is full of phenomena. In Germany, 2016, a related species (Psallus varians) - within the same family (Miridae) - spontaneously developed an increased appetite for blood and attacked humans and animals in very large numbers.😵🩸🌳

The mirid bug is widespread in almost all of Europe (except the far north and few islands in the Mediterranean and Atlantic) - you find it in North Africa - and further east to the Caucasus. It has been introduced in some areas of North and South America.🌍🌎

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