I may be weird, but I love mini beasts

[KurriKurri]

I always have. All kinds of insects and spiders, I saw a crab spider the other day - it fell off a bramble and was sitting on my cardigan waving it's little claws second row down first left, don't click if you don't like spiders.
They can change their colour to match their background, - how cool can you get?

I was just looking it up for identification and when I saw that chart, I thought how lucky we are to have such a variety of beautiful creatures we can see in this country. And that's just the spiders, don't get me going on moths - I love moths - so many kinds from tiny to big furry ones - all that soft downy fur and the colours are incredible, moths are my favourite animals.

I know I sound like an over enthusiastic eight year old , but I'm just constantly amazed by these beautiful creatures.

Anyone else a bug fan? (or am I just slightly bonkers?)

Nonast - oh, I thought only I did that - fortunately only a tiny pond. But the weed has so many tiny ramshorn snails in it. which I don't think could possibly get back to the water unaided. Awesome series of photos!

My grass hadn't been mowed in ages due to the constant rain and when I was cutting it today I kept disturbing sleepy moths. I had a fabulous one perched snoozing on my finger: furry face like a little owl and irridecent yellow wings. Stunning

I love bugs.... I got a dragonfly tattoo when I was 16!

I am fascinated by leaf cutter ants.

You'd love Oz then. Lots of beasties here.
We've had two red backs, 3 huge cockroaches (about 10cm without the antenna), all manner of grasshoppers, had a stick insect the other week out front (with googly eyes), and we have Portuguese millipedes (pain in the arse).
You really would be fascinated.
I'm no scared of them, but if they're poisonous they end up under my slipper!

Longdistance - ah, but the thing I really love about British fauna is that there's so little that can actually harm you here. I lived in the US for a couple of years - where there are black widows etc - on return I found that oddly, my mild spider phobia had gone because I knew our chaps wouldn't hurt me.

same goes for flora - no poison ivy/oak, nothing worse than nettles and brambles (so long as you don't eat stuff, of course).

Thanks Grimma - no not just you! Fortunately our pond is small too, otherwise it would be a full time job!

Longdistance - there must be a huge variety of mini beasts in Australia - lucky you, - but I agree with Grimma, it does make finding them here more relaxing when you know they can't really harm you! (Is the Portuguese millipede another of those creatures that has been brought in accidentally and thrived? - does it affect the native wildlife in any way?)

BikeRunSki - we have leafcutter bees here - amazing little animals, - I haven't seen any of the ants though, - I saw a giant ant farm in the natural history museum a few years ago - DS and I watched it for ages - fascinating. I find insects that live in organized communities really interesting, (probably comes form my Dad having been a beekeeper)

I do the sorting through pond weed thing too - we have newts and I know they are OK out of the water, but as you say if they get tangled in the weed, it's too heavy for them to escape.