Not a Moth, but a Caddisfly

Found this insect back on 30 June, and thinking it was a moth spent ages trying to find it on www.ukmoths.org.uk and other websites.  All no avail. until a I was checking something else and realised it was not a moth at all, but a caddisfly.  The problem with caddisflies is that there seems to be very little information on the internet covering the 200 or so species found in the UK.  Normally caddisflies live near running water, but this one was resting up in shrubs in the garden during the daytime.  Plus, this one doesn't really have much in the way of distinguishing features.  Ironically the only one looking similar that I could find on the web was on another blog (http://northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2010/09/stumped-by-caddis-fly.html), and the blogger there couldn't identify it either, but hopefully one of us will work it out one day...

A MicroEden mystery - caddisfly

Sorting out some Bees

I'm finding bees pretty hard to identify, despite having a Falk's field guide to the Bees of GB & Ireland on loan.  Anyhow taking advantage of a wet Sunday, I think I made some progress with old photos from June & July.

In June the Wall Daisies had a lot of these small, orange-bellied solitary bees.  Looking at photos and the guide, I think they can be identified as Patchwork Leaf-cutter Bee (#181), thanks to the extent of orange towards the tail segments. 

The other bee also from June on White Bryony flowers also seems to be a solitary bee.  Based on the amount of hair on the body and leg colour I reckon  it's Yellow-legged Mining Bee (#309).

There's a few other microEden mysteries I need to solve, I'm glad to have worked at least some of them out.

181 Patchwork Leaf-cutter Bee on Wall Daisy

309 Yellow-legged Mining Bee on White Bryony

181 Patchwork Leaf-cutter Bee on Wall Daisy

309 Yellow-legged Mining Bee on White Bryony