Malachite Malheureux

Vile weather again, very cold and wet. The only thing for it was to search for droplet bugs.

Quite a few flies around, including a fat flesh fly that I missed. I shot some little brown hoverflies which cling to plantain and grass seedheads, perfectly camouflaged. It was too cold for them to take to the wing. This Common Malachite Beetle, which has a big drop of rain on its bottom, was looking decidedly unhappy.

I'm always on the lookout for the Scarlet Malachite Beetle, which is one of the UK's rarest insects and has been found in Essex.