Full circle

I often struggle to find a suitable title for the posts that I make, but I think you'll agree that today's title certainly applies to the first two images, but in completely different ways.

The Nematus pavidus larvae are now in their final instar (final colouration pattern) and are getting larger:

There's still no sign of the secondary parasites, which makes them a bit late in terms of the early appearance of the larvae this year. I had a think about that, however, and they don't actually have the same imperative to synchronise that the primaries do: the egg of the primary is their target and since the egg stays inert inside the larva until it is fully grown, the secondaries can wander along any time they like.

I rather liked this shot of the Tetanocera being killed by the spider:
Tetanocera are snail-killers. Full circle, indeed.

I flipped over a specimen of Cloud Agaric to confirm my identification and found this tiny Springtail:
It's Tomocerus minor and as I was keying it out I had to laugh when the key said: "This may be called 'minor', but it can reach fully 4.5 mm long"! That gives you some idea of how small Springtails usually are.

While I was looking at the Nematus larvae, I spotted this Pug Moth larva stretched out on the skeletal leaf they had left behind:
It occurs to me that it might have chosen that spot to pupate in. A quick check later will confirm.

This Angle Shades moth larva caught my eye. Camouflage seems not to work on me:

Another new moth came to light, and it's the excellent 20-plume micromoth - Alucita hexadactyla. The wings are each made up of six 'plumes':

And, just for the record, a (very!) worn Common Rustic. It's amazing that the diagnostic kidney mark is just about the only part of the wing pattern still in place: