Monday 21 October 2013

Anthophora (Clisodon) furcata (Panzer, 1798)

Bees.


Remember this post about bees?

Well, meet the diagonal second from the top left corner:


Photographed in Bosham, West Sussex, UK, in June 2013, Using an Olympus E-420 DSLR, with a Zuiko 40-150mm lens and 3 KOOD magnifiers.

This solitary (read - unwilling to sting) bee is, unless I'm very much mistaken (possible)

Anthophora (Clisodon) furcata
(Panzer, 1798)

- Anthophorini
- Apinae            
- Apidae              
- Anthophila          
-[nested within the Crabronidae]         
See also Astata tropicalis
- Apoidea                     
- Aculeata                       
- Apocrita                           
- Hymenoptera                     
- Hymenopterida                    
- Endopterygota                       
- Eumetabola                                      
- Neoptera                                             
- Manopterygota                                       

- Pterygota                                                   
- Dicondylia                                                   
- Insecta                                                           
- Hexapoda                                                        
- Arthropoda                                                        
- Ecdysozoa                                                             


- Protostomia                                                             
- Nephrozoa                                                                 
- Bilateralia                                                                       
- Eumetazoa                                                                        
- Animalia                                                                             
- Eukaryota                                                                             

And that is all, folks.



For information, pictures and a reasonable - if not particularly user-friendly - identification resource for British bees and wasps, try BWARS' website.

Nemophora degeerella (Linnaeus, 1758)

'Micromoths' are often dismissed as being small, dully coloured and uninteresting.

This one is certainly small:

Photographed June 2012 near Wimborne, Dorset, UK, using Olypus E-420 DLSR, with Zuiko 40-150mm lens and 3 KOOD magnifiers.
This picture doesn't do it full justice - in addition to the metallic colouring across its head and wings, the broad yellow stripe across its wings is accompanied by two narrow purple stripes which - for the purposes of a more interesting angle, aren't visible here.

Sorry, and all that.

Anyhow, this lovely little creature, perhaps better known as a (DeGeer's) Fairy Longhorn Moth belongs to:

- Adelinae     
- Adelidae        
- Incurvarioidea 
- Incurvariina       
- Monotrysia          
- Heteroneura          
See Also Crambus pascuella, Zebronia phenice, Laelia robusta, Metisella willemi, Acada biseriataAnthocharis cardamines and Sphinx ligustri.
- Neolepidoptera         
- Glossata                      
- Lepidoptera                  
- Amphiesmenoptera        
- Panorpida                         
See also Megistocera filipes, Dolichotachina caudata, Diasemopsis meigenii, Metadon inermis, Episyrphus balteatus, Helophilus pendulus, Senaspis haemorrhoaChloromyia formosa and Panorpa germanica.
- Endopterygota                      
See also Andrena nigroaenea, Astata tropicalis, Vespula germanica, Synagris proserpina, Anthia fornasiini, Demetrias atricapillus, Neojulodis vittipennis, Melolontha melolontha, Cheilomenes lunata, Oedemera noobilis, Malachius bipustulatus, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Phyllobius pomaceus and Hagenomyia tristis.
- Eumetabola                               
See also Pephricus, Grypocoris stysiRanatra and Anoplocnemis curvipes.
- Neoptera                                      
See also Humbe tenuicornis, Lobosceliana loboscelis, Cyathosternum prehensile, Heteropternis thoracica, Stictogryllacris punctata, Tettigonia viridissima and Sibylla.
- Metapterygota                                
See also Enallagma cyathigerum, Pseudagrion hageniLestinogomphus angustus and Rhyothemis semihyalina.
- Pterygota                                           
- Dicondylia                                           
- Insecta                                                   
- Hexapoda                                                
- Arthropoda                                                
See also Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Hyllus argyrotoxus, Alopecosa barbipes, Enoplognatha ovataArgiope bruennichi and  Pardosa amentata.
 - Ecdysozoa                                                    
- Protostomia                                                    
- Nephrozoa                                                        
- Bilateralia                                                             
- Eumetazoa                                                              
- Animalia                                                                    
- Eukaryota                                                                    




And that's all, folks.



As always, the place to go for British Moths is UKMoths. Enjoy.

Sunday 20 October 2013

Syncerus caffer caffer (Sparrman, 1779)

This is not a water-buffalo.

Semi-captive - photographed on a privately owned game-range, in Lusaka, Zambia, in August 2011 using an Olympus E-420 DSLR with 40-150mm lens. 
As the nominate subspecies, it doesn't really need an adjective, and can just be called the Buffalo. Sorry, Americans, but Bison bison is clearly a bison, not a buffalo. 

As already stated, it is also not a water-buffalo. If you are so attached to your colloquial names for what was formerly the most numerous component of the Nearctic megafauna - a title now held by the cosmopolitan ape, Homo sapiens - then you may refer to this lovely creature as an African Buffalo or, if you are certain that it belongs to this particular (the nominate) subspecies, the Cape buffalo.

If you feel like avoiding the term buffalo altogether, you could call it:

Syncerus caffer caffer
(Sparrman, 1779)

 - Bovini  
- Bovinae 
- Bovidae   
- Pecora       
- Ruminantia  
- Cetruminantia
- Artiofabula      
- Cetartiodactyla  
- Ferungulata         
- Laurasiatheria        
- Boreoeutheria          
- Eutheria                     
- Theria                          
- Mammalia                     
- Cynodontia                     
- Theriodonta                      
- Therapsida                          
- Sphenocodontidae                
- Sphenocodontia                      
- Eupelycosauria                         
- Synapsida                                    
- Amniota                                         
- Reptiliomorpha                                       
- Tetrapoda                                                  
- Sarcopterygii                                                 
- Osteichthyes                                                   
- Teleostomi                                                         
- Gnathostomata                                                     
- Vertebrata                                                               
- Craniata                                                                    
- Chordata                                                                      
- Deuterostomia                                                                
- Nephrozoa                                                                          
See also Tettigonia viridissima, Stictogryllacris punctata, Heteropternis thoracica, Cyathosternum prehensile, Lobosceliana loboscelis, Humbe tenuicornis, Sibylla, Pephricus, Grypocoris stysi, RanatraAnoplocnemis curvipes, Hagenomyia tristis, Phyllobius pomaceus, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Malachius bipustulatus, Oedemera noobilis, Cheilomenes lunata, Melolontha melolontha, Neojulodis vittipennis, Demetrias atricapillus, Anthia fornasiini, Synagris proserpina, Vespula germanica, Astata tropicalis, Andrena nigroaenea, Panorpa germanica, Chloromyia formosa, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Helophilus pendulus, Episyrphus balteatus, Diasemopsis meigenii, Metadon inermis,Dolichotachina caudata Megistocera filipes, Crambus pascuella, Zebronia phenice, Laelia robustaMetisella willemi, Acada biseriata, Anthocharis cardamines, Sphinx ligustri, Rhyothemis semihyalina, Pseudagrion hageni, Enallagma cyathigerum , Lestinogomphus angustus, Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Hyllus argyrotoxus, Alopecosa barbipes, Enoplognatha ovataArgiope bruennichi, Pardosa amentata.
- Bilateralia                                                                               
- Eumetazoa                                                                                
- Animalia                                                                                      
- Eukaryota                                                                                      
  
  


And that, folks, is all. 



This delightful pair were photographed at Parays game farm - like them on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Parays-Animal-Sanctuary/168769346520490