Summer jewels

I have always loved shiny metallic objects ,especially if coloured. when insects are thus then they are special. I remember when i was four years of age, sitting on the carpet under the dining room table by the patio doors when a rose chafer flew in and rested next to me. I stared at it for ages. I loved it. In the UK there are several metallic chafer beetle species that look very similar, and many other members of the family that are not so colourful or shiny.The rose chafer can look different colours depending on its angle to light.It is diffraction of light that causes its colour and not pigment, as in most iridescent insects.this rose chafer (Cetonia aurata) looks both green and copper.

Another chafer species is the common garden chafer,(Phyllopertha horticola) a much smaller variety. both are now fling during warm sunny days.They can be seen in flowers or on vegetation.

The spider Atypus affinis is the only member of the mygalomorpha tribe ,the bird eatingĀ  and trapdoor spiders.They have massive jaws and fangs. This one is a male looking for a female on heathland.

When newts are not in ponds breeding ,they are on land in dry form usually under stones or logs.

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