...or Setaceous Hebrew Character.

M.

I think your dragonfly is most likely an elderly female Common Darter.

M.

It's a Juniper Shieldbug Cyphostethus tristriatus. They used to be confined to wild Junipers, but have latterly discovered that they can live on garden junipers and Lawson Cypress, and so have greatly extended their range. They are quite common in the south and midlands at least.

M.

Paul is on the right lines. The three small white points behind the pronotum are typical of a species now established in the London area, known as the Southern Green Shieldbug Nezara viridula.

M.

Your wasps look like paper wasps of the genus Polistes, possibly P.biglumis. They can give a painful sting if you get too close to their nest, believe me. See: http://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/ins ... 16997.html

M.

Your spiders are both the very variable Garden Cross Spider Araneus diadematus. Russ's may well be the same, but I could not be certain without a view of the upperside.

M.

The spider is indeed the Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi , which is now quite common in much of southern England. The orange grasshoppers are final instar nymphs of the Egyptian Grasshopper Anacridium aegyptium . This species matures in the autumn and overwinters as an adult. The next picture shows a...

Are you quite sure your cat is lepidopterous? It looks very like a hoverfly larva illustrated in Britain's Hoverflies by Stuart Ball and Roger Morris p.16. It's a larva of Epistrophe in all probability.

M.

The bug is actually Graphosoma semipunctatum . It differs from G.lineatum in having the stripes on the pronotum broken up into separate spots. The big "bee" is the big fly Tachina grossa , which parasitises large lep. larvae. Do you have a picture of the dorsal surface of the spider? M.

The Plain Tiger foodplant appears to be Cynanchum acutum, Stranglewort. It's in the Milkweed family, as you would expect, but I have not heard of it being used before.
Correction; I see that Paul Browning lists it as a foodplant.

M.

Your owlfly seems to be Libelloides longicornis. L.macaronius, which has more black on the forewings, does not occur west of Italy. I hesitate to enter the minefield of the Coleoptera, but your mating beetles might be Clytra quadripunctata, Chrysomelidae..

M.

Your Furry Blue upperside shows conspicuous androconial patches so must be a male. In which case it must, I assume, be Ripart's Anomalous Blue. Are you sure about the underside shot, because that could be Ripart's as well?

M.

It's a Carpocoris species. Seehttp://hemiptera.free.fr/Carpocoris_France_Mouquet.pdf, and the best of luck.

M.

It's a male Roesel's bushcricket Metrioptera roeselii. It has expanded its range hugely in recent decades and is now common in the London area.

M.

Just a note, Nick, that the Spanish Argus is Aricia morronensis, not montensis.

M.

Nick The first of the blues looks like Silver-studded to me. It is difficult to be definite about the others, because the undersides are in shadow, but I'm fairly confident that number three is Idas and numbers four and five look good too. I pass on the female, though. I think your golden skipper is...

I have been enjoying your report from the Sierra Nevada. It brings back memories of my visit to the area in July 1990. A few comments on your latest posting: Had you considered Safflower Skipper for the Pyrgus? Guy will know better, I'm sure. From the quite strongly undulate hindwing margins I think...

To get to Durlston from Bournemouth you will probably want to use the chain ferry from Sandbanks.. Bear in mind that long queues can build up , especially at summer weekends, which could badly eat into your 2 hour window. Alternatives are to drive round via Wareham, or to take the bus no. 50 , which...

I'd say it was a female. Slightly less jagged outline to the wings than in the male, and a heavy looking abdomen in you underside shot.

M.

If I could comment rather belatedly on your Empusa, it would have to be E.pennata, as according to Fauna Europaea E.fasciata does not occur anywhere west of Italy, and is mainly Balkan.

M.