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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

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

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.

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

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

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...

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.

MINESAPINT wrote: 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.

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.

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.