Crane fly,
Tipula sp.❤
(05/2003 in Oberursel, Germany)

Isn't it beautiful?😍 Crane flies are completely harmless.😁 Many believe they are huge mosquitoes.😆 Their mandibles are only suitable for absorbing water and nectar and can't penetrate through the skin.☝ What can end fatally, however, is to get the giggles from people panicking around the whole apartment.😂🙈🙉🙊




Do you see behind the wings these small stems with the thickening at the end? In evolutionary terms, these are reduced wings and serve as orientation. They are called halteres and are a fascinating development of Mother Nature. Many other flying insects have that too. Simply said, the halteres swing through the wing movements, and as the animal changes direction, the vibration also changes.💡

🌸🚁 Marmalade hoverfly (male),
Episyrphus balteatus
(06/2019 in Oberursel, Germany)

Marmalade hoverflies always follow the nice weather! 🌞 This species belongs to the migratory insects and forms dense seasonal swarms. In autumn, these travel from Central Europe to the Mediterranean region (vice versa in spring). The hoverflies cross the passes of the low mountain ranges, the Pyrenees and the Alps! 👍🐝



🎶 Music: "Hey, Are You Here?"
👤 by Kara Square 🔖 Licensed under
Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial 3.0 🔊 Sound effect: "Helicopter"
👤 by navaneetha kris 🔖 Licensed under
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

My new roommate "Piñata DeBicho"! 🤗
It's a conehead mantis (Empusa pennata).
But you shouldn't believe everything. ☝
There is also some evidence that it comes from the planet Remulak! 👾🚀
Who cares! Just let the little conqueror march a bit! 😍


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Music: Mixed parts of "Haze" by Doxent Zsigmond (2018) and "Muy Caliente" by Apoxode (2019). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0)

I mostly feed Dubia roaches to my leopard geckos. I breed them myself. Although it's a cockroach species, they are the least problematic feeding insects that I know. They don't make any noise or smell, can't climb smooth surfaces and really don't multiply in the home. They are always accepted by all my geckos and move moderately fast, which makes handling easy. In addition, they have a balanced nutrient ratio.

My friend is back and finally grown up! 😌
Of course you can drink my tasty sweat, you must be very thirsty! 😅🤗

Based on the nymphs that have occurred so far, you couldn't really say anything about the species. Netherless, my suspicion was already in the direction of Planuncus tingitanus s.l., because they are often found near houses. Ectobius vittiventris also accidentally gets into homes due to massive outbreaks caused by hot and dry summers. However, the wings of E. vittiventris are always longer than the abdomen. So I'm probably right with P. tingitanus .


By the way, it's not the worst idea to offer drinking opportunities in this heat. There are plenty of ways to make this possible. On the Internet you will find many crafting instructions for insect watering places. 🍹🐝

Someone came to visit me again! 🤗
A little bit bigger and the color turns amber. I think this is a Planuncus tingitanus s.l., because of its habitat. They're invasive and prefer shrubs and trees near human settlements. "S.l." stands for "sensu lato" meaning "in the sense of". It's a species complex consisting of different species or possibly just one. So it's kind of working title, until molecular investigations provide new insights. But I can't even be sure if this little visitor belongs to the Planuncus species. Forest cockroaches often differ only minimally, such as on the genitals. However, it's my pleasure to serve as an insect motel. Feel like home, eat some dirt, stretch your limbs and just feel good! Sloth life!✌

Desert locust nymph (Shistocerca gregaria) in gregarious phase. An impressive and very interesting species. In phases, they are able to migrate in swarms up to 50 million individuals! They are probably the most dangerous migratory locusts, because they can cover very large distances. The spread and swarm formation is closely monitored because of the economic importance of the species to start early control measures. Their high reproduction rate makes them very interesting for feed breeders. Sometimes they are also on the menu of my geckos. I wanted to breed them by myself, but who eats a lot, sh*ts a lot! The strong and spicy stench was unbearable!

European June Beetle / summer chafer (Amphimallon solstitiale)

I recently had a surprise visitor! 🤗
Apparently it gets around that then you will be known on Instagram. 🤔 "Hey, I just pretend that I accidentally got into this apartment and do something interesting to film me!" 😃

Clever little cockroach! 👍 Unfortunately you forgot to tell me your name! 😜

Last night, I discovered this early instar nymph of the cockroach Planuncus tingitanus s.l..🔦 It's a species complex which still needs much research. 🔬
Originally from the Mediterranean, they have spread rapidly in Europe in recent decades. In Germany, they were first found in Mainz in 2007. That's about 50 kilometers away from Oberursel. They live on shrubs near human settlements🌳🏘🏡 but only accidentally get into houses and only live outside.