QUIZ

[MINESAPINT]

I have noticed 3 insects recently. Probably not rare or unusual but I would be interested to have them identified.

Butterfly/moth. Very much like a cabbage white but with bright orange wing tips.

Ladybird. Entirely green, exactly same colour as leaves.

Hovering bee, furry, brown/ginger, about the same size as a honey bee but triangular shape with very long tongue.

MINESAPINT

[Green Aura]

Don't know about the other two but I'd hazard a guess that the butterfly is an Orange Tip

[chickenchargrill]

Oo, I've seen a couple of those bee things too. No idea what it is.

The butterfly is called an Orange-tip butterfly.

Ladybird sounds like a nymph of the common green shield beetle and are pests.

[chickenchargrill]

Oh, did google search and you can get, though I've never seen one, green ladybirds. So if it looks just like a ladybird, but green, that's what it is. If it's a bit smaller and not quite ladybird like- http://www.grosse.is-a-geek.com/greenshield.html

[MINESAPINT]

Thanks,

Confirm butterfly was an orange tip.

Ladybird is not shield beetle. Green ladybird was ladybird shaped, exactly same size/shape as 7 spot. Only difference it was green.

MINESAPINT

[chickenchargrill]

And if the bee is the same as the one I saw, it's a Tawny Mining Bee - I saw a female, having looked at the pictures. Apparently they're great pollinators and don't sting.

Then it's probably a green ladybird...

[MINESAPINT]

Thanks chickenchargrill,

Not a Tawny Mining Bee.

The hairy body is correct and colour about right.

The insect I saw has a different body shape (might not be a bee), it hovers perfectly as a hoverfly and has an enormous proboscis which it uses for collecting nectar while hovering.

Look forward to more replies.

[Carltonian Man]

The insect I saw has a different body shape (might not be a bee), it hovers perfectly as a hoverfly and has an enormous proboscis which it uses for collecting nectar while hovering.

If you live in UK and not too far north could it be a bee fly. They have a distinctive high-pitched buzz which helps to identify them.

[Millymollymandy]

Hummingbird hawkmoth? Very long proboscis but they haven't arrived here yet and only go to the UK now and again, although I think they are becoming more common there now.

I've been photographing bees - have all sorts of all different colours - but haven't got a clue what any of them are! I hadn't realised there were so many fluffy big/small/orange/yellow/black with orange bum and all other combinations! It's great.

[MINESAPINT]

Thanks all,

Butterfly obviously an Orange Tip.

Still some uncertainty ref the green ladybird. I have read on Wikipedia such things are virtually impossible to identify unless you are expert.

The bee is obviously a bee fly (bombyliidae) but there are many hundreds to choose from.