Scroll down for the latest images from the insect photo diary of Prof Bill Amos of the Department of Zoology. There are some beautiful metallic beetles this week – it just goes to show that there is beauty in the little things in life, so take a closer look next time you see a small insect on a plant.
Flea beetles are tiny but they really show how small can be beautiful. Many of them are wonderfully metallic, like this one. I’m afraid I don’t have a specialist key for this group so cannot identify to species. (c) Bill Amos 
The common malachite beetle. This species is much bigger than a flea beetle but is still quite small. It is easy to pass one sitting on a flower and think ‘small dark insect’ but when you look closer, its true beauty emerges. (c) Bill Amos 
There are quite a few similar yellow and black hoverflies. This one is, I think, Eupeodes corollae, the migrant hoverfly. Like so many, its larvae feed on aphids, so you can find females inspecting rose buds and other leaves for colonies in which to lay their tiny white eggs. (c) Bill Amos 
A wonderful longhorn beetle. This one is Anaglyptus mysticus and, with its antennae folded back along its side, looks more like some kind of wasp. I have never seen this species before so was very pleased to come across it near the river in a patch of nettles. (c) Bill Amos 
A close relative of the famous laboratory fruit fly, Drosophila. This one is tiny and seems to be trying to decide whether to take off from the edge of the leaf. (c) Bill Amos 
The thick-legged flower beetle. This is a male: the females are rather duller and lack the thickened legs. They are really common right now, try looking for them on ox-eye daisies like here. A real metallic gem. (c) Bill Amos 
The cinnabar moth, a wonderful flash of red and black. This species is famous both for the lovely colours of the adult and for the striking yellow and black striped caterpillars that feed on ragwort. (c) Bill Amos 
The red admiral. By this time of year the adults are getting a bit tatty. Most will have over-wintered, often inside houses in places like attics. The larvae feed on nettles. Here is a species that, if it was rare, people would travel a long way to see! (c) Bill Amos
You can see more of Bill’s photographs on the blog:
An Insect A Day for bee fly, orange tip buttefly and parasitic wasp
An Insect A Day continues for scorpion fly, shield bug and click beetle
An Insect A Day Part 3 for wasp beetle; dragonfly and aphids giving birth
Insect-eye View for sawfly, hoverfly and solitary bees
Why not have a go at photographing insects yourself? We would love to see your photos of wildlife where you are. Share with us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram by tagging us or using #OpenYourWindowBingo to feature in our online Community Gallery.
Museum of Zoology Blog 
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