It's not hard to see why this crab spider, Synema globosum, is sometimes called the Napoleon spider. Poor honey bee! Photo taken in Zakynthos, Greece.

I've signed. Please stop Leeds County Council feeling a healthy oak tree for no good reason.. you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

Not many insects about to enjoy in December, but these leaf mines on holly are nice. Made by the larvae of a tiny fly (Phytomyza ilicis) they come in all sorts of fantastical shapes. There's a genies's lamp for a start...

Our garden might look untidy in Winter but it’s still providing food and shelter for wildlife. It will be gradually cut down before Spring when new flowers emerge to provide nectar and pollen through until Autumn. Our declining insects need all the help they can get! #insectdecline #wildlifegarden

This little (~6mm) insect was scurrying about on a wooden fence looking and behaving like an ant. When I got closer however, I could see it was a wasp. Could it be an ant-like ichneumon wasp, Gelis areator perhaps? @gavinbroad.bsky.social

Spotted a 7-spot ladybird on a sunflower sitting astride a cocoon. Collected flower and ladybird, placed in a box and waited. 5 days later a little green-eyed wasp emerged - Dinocampus coccinellae, a parasitoid. Its larva will have eaten the ladybird's insides. Insects are fascinating!

I thought this Common Blue butterfly might be appropriate for my first post!