Flying bugs on car.....making me sad.
Discussion
Evening chaps,
For the last couple weeks I have noticed a lot of flying bugs on my car during the evening. It has got worse since the sun has come out.
They are literally everywhere and are right itchy little b
ds. Last night I accidentally left my roof down for the evening, when I went to go out at 9pm I had to vacuum the bugs from the interior - my seat was crawling in them.
My car seems to be the only one they are interested in. Please can you help me identify.
Cheers.
For the last couple weeks I have noticed a lot of flying bugs on my car during the evening. It has got worse since the sun has come out.
They are literally everywhere and are right itchy little b
ds. Last night I accidentally left my roof down for the evening, when I went to go out at 9pm I had to vacuum the bugs from the interior - my seat was crawling in them.My car seems to be the only one they are interested in. Please can you help me identify.
Cheers.
Morning chaps,
Whilst browsing the Web last night looking at different beetles I came across the Natural History Museum website and their beetle dept. It had a contact form so I asked a couple questions and bunged my images in, I had a reply this morn:
Interesting! These are water beetles (Family Hydrophilidae, genus Helophorus, probably Helophorus brevipalpis); they famously fly to shiny objects that they think are pool of water- cars, glasshouses etc are often covered in specimens at the right time of year; they are completely harmless and probably rather confused to find themselves in your car instead of in a pool of water. I am copying to my colleague Robert who is the world expert on these beetles,
Robert also emails this morning -
Yes, this is H. brevipalpis, in classic swarming mode!
So there we have it chaps, that's what they are. And yes they do seem to be having an orgy on my car.
I also think I know where they may have come from - my neighbours went away and left their large paddling pool full, subsequently in the warm weather it soon turned to a big green mess. More than likely the perfect breeding grounds for a water beetle.
Cheers.
Whilst browsing the Web last night looking at different beetles I came across the Natural History Museum website and their beetle dept. It had a contact form so I asked a couple questions and bunged my images in, I had a reply this morn:
Interesting! These are water beetles (Family Hydrophilidae, genus Helophorus, probably Helophorus brevipalpis); they famously fly to shiny objects that they think are pool of water- cars, glasshouses etc are often covered in specimens at the right time of year; they are completely harmless and probably rather confused to find themselves in your car instead of in a pool of water. I am copying to my colleague Robert who is the world expert on these beetles,
Robert also emails this morning -
Yes, this is H. brevipalpis, in classic swarming mode!
So there we have it chaps, that's what they are. And yes they do seem to be having an orgy on my car.
I also think I know where they may have come from - my neighbours went away and left their large paddling pool full, subsequently in the warm weather it soon turned to a big green mess. More than likely the perfect breeding grounds for a water beetle.
Cheers.
I love the Natural History Museum! To think that you got the world expert on these beetles! When I was a kid I found a stunning crystalized fossil high up in Derbyshire somewhere. Contacted the NHM and they invited me into their fossil back room and identified it for me (a kind of coral) and showed me some pictures of what it would have looked like 54 million years ago. Great stuff.
russy01 said:
Morning chaps,
Whilst browsing the Web last night looking at different beetles I came across the Natural History Museum website and their beetle dept. It had a contact form so I asked a couple questions and bunged my images in, I had a reply this morn:
Interesting! These are water beetles (Family Hydrophilidae, genus Helophorus, probably Helophorus brevipalpis); they famously fly to shiny objects that they think are pool of water- cars, glasshouses etc are often covered in specimens at the right time of year; they are completely harmless and probably rather confused to find themselves in your car instead of in a pool of water. I am copying to my colleague Robert who is the world expert on these beetles,
Robert also emails this morning -
Yes, this is H. brevipalpis, in classic swarming mode!
So there we have it chaps, that's what they are. And yes they do seem to be having an orgy on my car.
I also think I know where they may have come from - my neighbours went away and left their large paddling pool full, subsequently in the warm weather it soon turned to a big green mess. More than likely the perfect breeding grounds for a water beetle.
Cheers.
That's brilliant.Whilst browsing the Web last night looking at different beetles I came across the Natural History Museum website and their beetle dept. It had a contact form so I asked a couple questions and bunged my images in, I had a reply this morn:
Interesting! These are water beetles (Family Hydrophilidae, genus Helophorus, probably Helophorus brevipalpis); they famously fly to shiny objects that they think are pool of water- cars, glasshouses etc are often covered in specimens at the right time of year; they are completely harmless and probably rather confused to find themselves in your car instead of in a pool of water. I am copying to my colleague Robert who is the world expert on these beetles,
Robert also emails this morning -
Yes, this is H. brevipalpis, in classic swarming mode!
So there we have it chaps, that's what they are. And yes they do seem to be having an orgy on my car.
I also think I know where they may have come from - my neighbours went away and left their large paddling pool full, subsequently in the warm weather it soon turned to a big green mess. More than likely the perfect breeding grounds for a water beetle.
Cheers.
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