Red Admiral In His Ivy Crow's Nest

I made a collage this morning of the bugs that I shot on my back door ivy yesterday. It was a bit of a fiddle filling in twenty tiddly squares and I didn't include everything. What an amazing resource ivy is for insects at this time of year.

I'm afraid I can't keep away from the bush. I've got my tall steps at the ready. I was hoping to spot Helophilus trivittatus again but no luck. I noticed this hoverfly with its gorgeous lemon, black and light grey abdomen for the first time yesterday. A velvet mite, in its on trend red velvet jumpsuit, was scoffing some minute, flat, light yellow insect eggs. Still lots of wasps around and quite a few honeybees visiting but not the volume and range of bugs of the last couple of days.

The red admirals and painted ladies are an absolute joy on this the first day of autumn.

“Literature and butterflies are the two sweetest passions known to man.”

Vladimir Nabokov