Batesian mimickry

When a dull and overcast morning suddenly gave way to a bright, warm and sunny afternoon, and I wandered out with the camera to see what invertebrates were about, I almost punched the air when I spotted this wasp beetle: I do love finding new species in the garden. It's an entirely harmless longhorn beetle that has evolved to resemble a wasp, so as to persuade potential predators that it might be armed and dangerous, and they should probably leave it alone. If the potential attacker, like me, is unconvinced by its Batesian mimickry, and persists in sticking their macro lens in its face, it ups its game and scuttles around with fast, jerky movements that are designed to make it look still more waspish. If this doesn't work either, it can allegedly produce a high-pitched buzzing noise, but I failed to annoy this individual enough to elicit that response.

Adult wasp beetles are quite short-lived, but can be found between May and July, favouring hedgerows and woodland rides. They live mainly on pollen, though the females may also eat small invertebrates for extra protein, to help them produce their eggs. These are laid in decaying wood, especially willow and birch, and the larvae develop in and feed on the wood until they're big enough to pupate.

I've been very tired today after the exertions of the past few days, and gardening was most definitely not on my plan, but I forced myself to it this afternoon, after my bug hunt took me past the wildlife pond and I realised that the water level was so low, and it had become so overgrown since its spring tidy, that it was in imminent danger of turning into a flower bed. Luckily R was around to help me, and together we cleaned and cleared in and around the pond in less than half the time it would have taken me on my own. I used the hose spray on every clump of vegetation I removed, so as to wash as much pond life as possible back into the water, and by the time I'd finished the water level was back up to normal.