We have been photographing lots of insects lately. Well, let’s be honest, ‘we’ mainly means my husband – he is much better at it. But sometimes I’m lucky and get a good shot, too.
Let’s zoom in – bzzzz – and wow, look at that huge eye!
Because of the size and shape of its eyes alone, it must see the world totally differently from us. Looking at insects through the lens of my camera made me stop and think. We share our world with so many creatures we don’t even know exist. Of course I know that there are bees and bugs, midges and mosquitoes, but when you begin looking at them properly a whole new universe opens up. These creatures also have (love) lives…
They are busy gathering food, caring for their offspring, developing and going through different stages in their lives.
Different life stages of a six-spot burnet (above)
I wonder, if I were and insect, what insect would I be? To find the answer, I took a test. Turns out I’m a bee. Hmmm, yes, I’m always busy as a bee. But living in a big colony? Everything in the service of the Queen Bee? That’s not really me.
But wait, not all bees are honey bees. There are also bumblebees. Me, bumbling around? Not really. No, come to think of it, I’m more like a wild solitary bee. And then my husband came up with the answer: I’m a wool carder bee! (Thank you for the wool carder bee photos and info, sweetheart.)
In our garden they visit the hairy lamb’s ear plants…
… to scrape ‘wool’ from the leaves, roll it up and use it for making their nests. Here is a close-up of a wool carder bee with a ball of ‘wool’:
A wool carder bee, that’s me to a tee. How about you? What insect are you? Are you a grasshopper?
Or a butterfly? (Are butterflies even insects? There is so much I don’t know yet.)
A bee like me, or a different insect altogether? The British Natural History Museum has developed a fun quiz to help you find out.
Well, I’m buzzing off to add some woolly things to our nest. I’d love to hear what insect you are!
Haha, ik ben een Moth! Leuk zeg!
Wat leuk om te horen! Ik heb geen idee op wat voor insecten je allemaal kunt uitkomen. Zie ik je voor me als motvlinder? Hmmm, met een beetje fantasie…
Nooit geweten dat ik een lieveheersbeestje ben! 🐞 Prachtige foto’s zeg! Ik heb genoten.
Ach, een lieveheersbeestje, wat een leuke verrassing!
Yay – I’m a dragonfly!
Oooooh, a beautiful dragonfly whirring by – how lovely!
I love your backyard photography. I did take the fun quiz and came up with a moth, that did not sit totally right with me, so I took it again just to see, and came up with a bee. In any case they all have a purpose in the garden and I will enjoy thinking about them in a different light.
Moths can be fascinating, too, but I see what you mean. Moths may be useful and attractive in their own way, being a bee somehow seems more cheerful.