A picnic beetle! 🪲 They are called picnic beetles because they often fly at you outdoors. After the end of the Second World War, Glischrochilus quadrisignatus spread from Berlin to almost all of Europe. They originally come from North America, where they already played a role as a plant pest, and were then probably introduced to Germany via supplies from the Western Allied airlift. While in America the damage to corn, tomatoes and various types of fruit (apples, pears, apricots, peaches, raspberries) can be quite high, in Europe the species has so far only appeared as a corn pest to a much lesser extent. The beetle bites into the young, still milky grains and eats them. Well, then fly on, little conqueror!

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

This green shield bug (Palomena prasina) has strayed into the stairwell... 🦸🪲

☠️ There was a risk of spiders, dehydration or drowning from the neighbor's dog's saliva.

🕸🕷🏜🐶💦

These and numerous other dangers lurk in the everyday life of this urban insect. 🚗🏡🌳

It lives in trees and bushes and sucks their sap.Actually, everyone in Germany should know it, with its bright green color and smelly secretion.

🛩🪂 It often just crashes into somewhere. Its flying abilities can certainly be described as enduring, but it lacks speed, precision and maneuverability.

☝️🔒My fingerprint has been manipulated.

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

🌤🌸🦗🪻 A fragrant summer sun spot for a tiny bush-cricket (Phaneroptera species) 😊

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

Drop it like it's hot 💩

A mirid bug (Deraeocoris ruber) defecates on a hemp leaf. In fact, insect excrement is about as warm as its surroundings.

🤗 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! 🥰

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

Biting Ladybug! Yes, I got bitten on the arm by a ladybug and it pinched a little! 🐞🤕

I last had a similar experience when I was six years old, when a ladybug bit me painfully in my best part.😅🤭

Until now I wasn't sure if the ladybug bit me or if its defensive secretion caused the pain. But it was definitely a bite both times.

🔍 So I did some research and it is actually known that the Asian ladybug (Harmonia axyridis) bites people from time to time. They do this from a lack of food or fluids. Allergic reactions are possible but very rare. It's very dry here at the moment because it's very warm and it rarely rains.

However, when I was bitten in 1992, the Asian ladybug had not yet been documented in the wild in Germany. The first record of free-ranging Asian ladybugs in Europe was in Belgium in 2001.

In the meantime, one finds almost exclusively Asian ladybugs (images 1 and 2).

⚠️ Two-spot ladybugs (images 3 and 4) and other native ladybug species are now classified as highly endangered.

This two-spot ladybug (Adalia bipunctata) got lost in my room yesterday. It is a rare color variant, found in 15 percent of the species. Two-spotted ladybugs are usually red with a black spot on each elytra. The black variant is black, with two to three red spots per elytra.

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

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

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

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! 😜

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

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.

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

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.🌍🌎

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