INSECTS

LEPIDOPTERA
The Butterflies and Moths
Generally, the lepidoptera would probably be argued to be the most popular and recognisable of all insects, with butterflies being one of the few groups that has no real negative connotations to the general public.  They are chracterised by large scaly wings, frequently in bright colours, and less notable, often long prehensile proboscises they use for feeding. There are around 180,000 species in this order, 15-20,000 of which are butterflies and the rest moths.  Butterflies are however, much more popular for "hobby naturalists" due to being usually more colourful, usually day-flying and generally being all of a suitable size to be seen easily, unlike moths whose much greater diversity includes large numbers of so called "micromoths" which are far smaller than most butterflies.

 I try to photograph all new butterflies I see, but generally only photograph the more visually distinctive moths as otherwise identifying them is exponentially harder.

Butterflies

HESPTERIIDAE
ERYNNIS
LON
PYRGUS
THYMELICUS

NYMPHALIDAE
ADELPHA
APATURA
APHANTOPUS
ARGYNNIS
BASSARONA
BOLORIA
CERCYONIS
COENONYMPHA
DANAUS
DIONE
DOLESCHALLIDA
EUPLOEA
HESTINA
JUNONIA
LIMENITIS
MANIOLA
MELANARGIA
NYMPHALIS
-Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa)
PHYCOIDES
POLYGONIA
PYRONIA
SPEYERIA
TANAECIA
VANESSA
VINDULA
YPTHIMA

LYCAENIDAE
ARICIA
ANTIGIUS
BREPHIDIUM
CALLOPHRYS
CELASTRINA
CHERSONESIA
CHILADES
CUPIDO
LAMPIDES
LYCAENA
NEOZEPHYRUS
PARAGE
POLYOMMATUS
PSEUDOZIZEERIA
ZIZINA

PAPILIONIDAE
GRAPHIUM
IPHICLIDES
PAPILIO

PIERIDAE
ANTHOCHARIS
GONEPTERYX
Moths
-Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa)
-Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)
-Chimney Moth (Odezia atrata)
-Cinnabar Moth (Tyria jacobaeae)
-Common Crimson and Gold Moth (Pyrausta purpuralis)
-Common Heath Moth (Ematurga atormaria)
-Common Plume (Emmelina monodactyla)
-Drinker Moth (Euthrix potatoria)
-Elephant Hawk-Moth (Deilephila elpenor)
-Green Longhorn (Adela reaumurella)
-Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatrarum)
-Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba)
-Magpie Moth (Abraxas grossulariata)
-Pine Processionary Moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa)
-Privet Hawk-moth (Sphinx ligustri)
-Scarlet Tiger Moth (Callimorpha dominula)
-Shaded Broad-Bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata)
-Six-Spot Burnet (Zygaena filipendulae)
-Small Grass Emerald (Chlorissa viridata)
-Swallow-tailed Moth (Ourapteryx sambucaria)
-Tropical Swallowtail Moth (Lyssa zampa)

ODONATA
The Dragonflies and Damselflies
Certainly one of the more charismatic groups, the Dragonflies and Damselflies, (known officially as the "odonates") are one of the most popular types of insects in human culture due in no small part to their acrobatic nature and vibrant colours.  They are widely distributed, though not necessarily evenly - for instance the UK has 52 species compared to Japan which has 172.  Worldwide, there are around 5,900 species currently recorded.  Dragonflies tend to be larger and more powerful fliers than Damselflies as well as other more technical differences involving wing proportions and where they hold their wings when alighted among others.  Both have a life cycle where nymphs live as aquatic predators before maturing to the adult stage of their lives.

AESHNIDAE
AESHNA
ANAX
BRACHYTRON
ARGIA
ENALLAGMA
ERYTHROMMA
ISCHNURA
PSEUDAGRION
PYRRHOSOMA

LESTIDAE
LESTES

LIBELLULIDAE
BRACHYTHEMIS
DIPLACODES
LIBELLULA
NEUROTHEMIS
ORTHETRUM
RHODOTHEMIS
RHYOTHEMIS
SYMPETRUM

COLEOPTERA 
The Beetles
Consisting of around 25% of all known animal species and 40% of insects, the order of Coleoptera is the single largest order of animals on the planet.  The total is apparently 350,000-400,000 species, which for reference, would mean there are 35-40 times as many species of beetle as there are birds.  This is clearly way too many to target as a species group, especially as many are tiny and indistinct.  This list then serves more as a selected highlights of the larger or more charismatic species I find.

-2-Spotted Ladybird (Adalia 2-punctata) 
-7-Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata)
-10-Spot Ladybird (Adalia 10-punctata)
-14-Spot Ladybird (Propylea 14-punctata)
-22-Spot Ladybird (Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata)
-24-Spot Ladybird (Subcoccinella vigintiquatuorpunctata)
-Adonis Ladybird (Adonia variegata)
-Banded Soft-Shell Flower Beetle* (Anthacomus fasciatus) (**English name is speculative**)
-Black Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus humator)
-Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa)
-Bronze Beetle (Chrysolina bankii)
-Bryony Ladybird (Henosepilachna argus)
-Cereal Leaf Beetle (Oulema melanopus)
-Common Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis)
-Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
-Convergent Ladybug (Hippodamia converens)
-Cream-spot Ladybird (Calvia 14-guttata)
-Devil's Coach Horse (Ocypus olens)
-Formosan Longhorn Beetle (Olenecamptus formosanus) (**English name is speculative**)
-Great Diving Beetle (Dytiscus marginalis)
-Green Chafer (Anomala albopilosa)
-Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris)
-Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)
-Lesser Stag Beetle (Dorcus parallelipipedus)
-Orange Ladybird (Halyzia 16-guttata)
-Pock-marked Scarab (Scarabaeus cicatricosus) (**English name is speculative**)
-Ribbed Darkling Beetle (Pimelia costata) (**English name is speculative**)
-Six-spotted Zigzag Ladybird (Cheilomenes sexmaculata)
-Spotted Longhorn (Ruptela maculata)
-Sulphur Beetle (Cteniopus sulphureus)
-Thick-Legged Flower Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
-Three-spot Leaf Beetle (Lachnaia tristigma) (**English name is speculative**)
-Wasp Beetle (Clytus arietis)

MANTODEA
The Mantises
Mantises are a wide-spread group of carnivorous insects whose have evolved their front legs into specialized striking claws.  There are around 2,400 species worldwide, although they are absent from the UK as a native species, though they are present throughout much of the rest of Europe particularly the Mediterranean.

-Japanese Giant Mantis (Tenodera aridifolia)

ORTHOPTERA
The Crickets and Grasshoppers
Orthoptera is a fairly varied group of species characterised by being usually terrestrial though capable of flight, possessing powerful hind legs often used for jumping and perhaps most famously, their ability to "sing" by use of friction between either their wings or their legs.  There are various differences between crickets and grasshoppers (and indeed, the other families of orthoptera I have yet to account) but the most common ones being crickets sing with their wings, and have a generally thicker and proportionally shorter body, while grasshoppers tend to be more slender relative to their length.  There are around 18000 species worldwide, but only 30 in the UK.

-Chinese Grasshopper (Acrida cinerea)
-Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)
-Dark Bush Cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera)
-Eastern Bush Cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera) (**English name is speculative**)
-Green Mountain Grasshopper (Miramella alpina)
-Long-winged Conehead (Conocephalus discolor)
-Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)
-Roesel's Bush Cricket (Metrioptera roeselii)
-Speckled Bush Cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima)
-Wart-biter (Decticus verrucivorus)

HYMENOPTERA
The Bees, Wasps and Ants
These three groups are some of the more ubiquitous species in the world, the order as a whole contains many of the most of the most colony based species on the planet, although this is not uniquely so, as there are many solitary species in the order which frequently lean towards parasitism.  There are over 150,000 species known to science, and more yet to be described.

 Bees
Ashy Mining Bumblebee (Andrena cineraria)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
Flavous Nomad Bee (Nomada flava)
Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
Gooden's Nomad Bee (Nomada goodeniana)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Tawny Mining Bee (Andrena fulva)
Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypornum)
Violet Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa violacea)
Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)

Wasps
European Hornet (Vespa crabro)
Ruby-tailed Wasp (Chrysis ignita)

DIPTERA
The Flies
The flies are a common and versatile order of insects defined by a single pair of wings with the rear wings adapted into structures called halteres which function as gyroscopes. are one of the more ubiquitous orders of insects, essentially found anywhere where there are flower plants to support them.  There are over a million species estimated world wide although only a quarter of that has been described.  For the sake of this blog, I will only be describing certain more common and charismatic groups such as the hoverflies for practicalities sake. 

Common Spotted Eupeodes (Eupeodes luniger)
Death Head Fly (Myathropa florea)
Large Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus trivittatus)
Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens)
Pied Hoverfly (Scaeva pyrastri)

HEMIPTERA
The True Bugs
The Hemiptera is a large family consisting of 50,000-80,000 known species, and includes a selection of recognisable species including cicadas, shieldbugs, aphids plus other less famous groups.  Viewed as a whole, it appears as something of an odd mix, with various species closely resembling ones from other orders. For the sake of this, I will primarily be focusing on larger more identifiable species like cicadas and shield bugs. 

 Bishop's Mitre Shieldbug (Aelia acuminata)
Common Cicada (Purana usnani)
Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)
Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus)
Dune Spurge Bug (Dicranocephalus agilisi)
Hairy Shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum) .

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