Unidentified Bug and Beetles

[rowanalder]

Hi Everyone,

Can anyone help Id these Bugs and Beetles?

I think the Bug may be Anthocoris confusus but im not 100% sure.

1.


2.


3.


4.


Cheers,

Ro

[Bobbobthebob]

1. Lagria hirta
2. ?
3. Gastrophysa viridula
4. Anthocoris sp. it's a difficult genus to do. Not sure it can be done from a photo

[Paul mabbott]

2 is a scarabeid - Aphodius sp I'd think. It's always useful to give an idea of size (length, roughly) when looking for insect identifications ....

[Jason Green]

Afternoon Rowan,

I agree with Bob's post, with the second being I think an Aphodius (Scarabaeidae). What specimen-preparation was carried out for these?

Take care,

Jason

[Klaas Reißmann]

The Aphodius can't be identified exactely by this photo. It is one of the Aphodius-prodromus-group, including for example A. sphacelatus and one or two more species.

Regards
Klaas

[rowanalder]

Thanks Guys,

Bob -
Unfortunatley I don't have the specimen of the Anthocoris sp. anymore I managed to loose it somewhere I would have ran it through the Land and Water Bugs of the British Isles key. Don't know if this will help it was found in Southwell, Nottinghamshire and was very common.

Paul -
I should have posted up the sizes for these the Scarabidae was around 7mm from the head to the tip of the abdomen. I found many of these in a bag of horse manure.

Jason -
I diddnt really do much with them I just put them through the microscope and took a picture of each species. I tried to make sure the antenae and legs could all be seen or at least one of each. I used my phone to take the pictures which is why the quality isnt great. After I took the pictures I pinned and set them.

Thanks again,

Ro

[rowanalder]

Thanks Klaas,

I am unable to find a key to this family online, I have found a few books but they are all out of print. Do you have any recommended works for this family?

Cheers,

Ro

[Jason Green]

Please, please please set+pin them before anything else!! Well, unless it's one you recognise as being one needing dissection - though I prefer doing even that whilst it's safely setting. Photographically-speaking it may be more aesthetic done then too.

Just quickly looking through my Anthocoris (8 this year), I don't have any that match. I think yours has a bit of an A. butleri look to it. What plant was it on? You say you set+pin. Most entomologists I speak to card-up beetles and bugs, so it's interesting that you pin+set like I do! Do you have any photos of the completed article?

[rowanalder]

Hi Jason,

I have pinned a few other specimens that I have collected mostly unidentified or need confirming. So I will post these up in the near future. I have only recently become interested in Hemiptera and Coleoptera so the collection isn't very large most of the specimens have been found either in the garden or whilst out and about.

I found the Anthocoris sp. whilst helping a friend doing an insect survey earlier on this year, every hedgerow surveyed produced this bug or one of the similar species, it would have either been blackthorn or hawthorn.

Yes I was reading about carding the otherday seems a good way of doing it but for my collection I have pinned most of the specimens. I just find it an easy way of doing it except for the smaller species which I had a go at carding. I havent really been doing my collection the "propper" way since I use ordinary sewing pins haha I must invest in some micro pins.

Cheers again,

Ro

[Jason Green]

I find it easier and faster to pin stuff, rather than carding. I realised the only reason I'd stopped focussing on beetles and bugs was that for some reason I just couldn't get on with carding. I then copied-over the benefit of carding of the nice aesthetic appearance and crossed it with the ease of dealing with flies and that - just a quick micropin through the thorax. With beetles I put the pin in the right elytra - about the same distance from the join between elytral margins as it is from the pronotal margin and making sure it goes down between the mid and fore-trochanters. With bugs it goes straight through the scutellum, and just being mindful of patterns; in such cases, then just slightly to the right.

please get micro-pins as soon as you can - about £2 for 100. Size A3 for micro-stuff (Anthocorids as above, Mirids, Sphecids, etc.), E3 for most hovers and G3 for large inverts and holding blocks (I use nu-poly; cut to 10x3mm blocks - must check price!) with micro-pinned material.

i look forward to your upcoming requests and hopefully suggesting the identification material you'll need with others on here