Its the little things in life :)

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I've been feeling a little depressed past week or so. No real reason i don't think, just fed up of life in general. So i haven't been out studying the insect population of my area like usual. I think mainly because i just kept seeing the same insects over and over again. Oh look, another amaurobius sp., another woodlouse, ladybird... ect, you know, the common stuff.

But yesterday when i got in from work, it was an immediate decision that I would get myself in the garden, grab my camera and do a sweep. And it turned out to be the most successful sweep of my garden I have done since i took up this hobby!! It most certainly took the edge of the crappy mood i've been in lately!

Here's what I found, in order;

An Amaurobius Similis (quite a common little spider, pretty all the same.)
A Cicadella viridis nymph - tiny little pockets of bubbles formed on various vegetation and I have always been curious as to what forms them. Yesterday I decided I would end that curiosity and the cutest, little green leaf-hopper nymph was uncovered from under the 'spit'. So damn cute.
An Anthrenus verbasci (varied carpet beetle) - so tiny, and I don't have a macro lens so I improvised with a jewellers eye loupe strapped to my camera lens.
An Araneus diadematus - a cross garden spider. A species of spider that I have not seen in years. Such beautiful creatures. I love them, they're one of my all time faves.
Unknown - yep, I have no idea what it was, and my research is proving flat. I couldn't get a photo of it (everytime i tried it would hide). It was green, long, slender bodied, did not appear to have any wings, long front legs and blended in extremely well with the grass seed it was on. My quest to determine what this was continues.
Unidentified black and yellow fly - I'm actually convinced it was possibly a parisitoid wasp. Either way, i didn't recognise it and I'm still in process of ID-ing it.
A Chorthippus brunneus nymph - common field grasshopper. Again, I've not seen one of these in years! I had fun chasing the little guy through the grass to get decent pics of it lol

And last but not least, the cherry on the pie, the best most amazing find in all my insect life - the prize! Just sat there, in the grass - Deilephila elpenor, an Elephant Hawk Moth - in all it's beauty. I have heard of people finding these, i've seen pictures, but never been lucky enough to see one myself. And yesterday I did. Not only see it, but surprisingly held it. It did not seem in the slightest bit bothered. It was so placid.









I just cant believe my luck yesterday, the finds were incredible!

I share your joy at these remarkable miniature worlds; they're so fascinating, but yet so easily overlooked by most people - even a little patch of waste ground behind a factory can be a safari for a few hours to get away from whatever's bugging us ( sorry, never can resist a bad pun!)

You've done a great job with your improvised "macro lens" shot of the Hawk Moth (and one-handed too, I guess!) I love that kind of Heath-Robinson approach to getting around the lack of posy equipment; the fringing round the edges of the loupe looks quite artistic too!

Yep. Taking a proactive approach to alleviating your depression is a good thing.

Well i didn't think i would get the outcome that i did tbf. The main reason i decided to pick up my camera and get out in the garden was a mix of having not done it in a while and wanting to keep myself interested in the area and also because i've been feeling like crap, i've had no interest in gaming or watching any shows, it's proven very difficult to get into anything. So i remembered that when I do get out searching for insects, i can spend hours doing it without even realising it. So glad i did!



Yes, one handed! lol it was not easy! I also like the blur around the eye loupe edges i just have to get right up in these creatures faces in order to get anything in decent focus lmao.

It's the things we live amongst yet don't usually interact in that catches my attention. So this wonderful secret life that exists amongst us is like my very own goldmine. I am surprised at how many tiny little bugs exist all around us that even I have never even seen before! And i find it absolutely amazing just how many you can find right in front of you if you look hard enough. It's a privilege to live alongside them

Those insects, plants, and all that is “life” in a nutshell.

They counteract depression—because depression feels like a lack of life

You’re filling your situation with “life” to replace that which you feel is “lost.”

Amazing pictures.