Scarlet lily beetle

The scarlet lily beetle is a major pest and cause lots of damage to lilies, they eat the leaves, buds, stem and flowers. These beetles were once confined to the South-East corner of the UK but in recent years they have been spreading Northwards. When alarmed the scarlet lily beetle makes a high pitched sqeaking noise to deter predators.

Image shot with a reversed 50mm f/2.8 EL-Nikkor on bellows.

Lilioceris liliia

Cuckoo bee

This is the cuckoo bee Nomada goodeniana, they are described as cuckoo bees because the females lay there eggs in the nests of ground nesting bees, Andrena. The hatched larvae eat the pollen provisioned by the Andrena adults and emerge in the Spring. The practice of stealing food from another species is called cleptoparasitism, there are many wasp and bee species which feed their young in this way.

Nomada goodeniana

Nomada goodeniana