As it has been relatively quiet bird wise recently I have been out looking for insects with the help of my two daughters who have much sharper eyes than me for small crawling insects. There are a number of species of
Lygaeus Ground Bugs in Saudi Arabia with the one photographed below being very common in Dhahran at the right time of year. They are often seen running across the ground at the edge of the spray fields where there are plenty of plants to feed on.
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| Lygaeus Ground Bug |
Moths are few and far between in the desert but there are currently quite a few of this micro moth in the grasses around the edge of the percolation pond. I have no idea as to its name but they are very pale when flying. Other insects using the same grasses include both Purple and Carmine Darters.
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| Micro Moth sp. |
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| Purple Darter |
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| Carmine Darter |
Beetles are around in good numbers mainly being Pitted Beetles but we also found a single Rack Beetle
Tentyrina palmeri crawling around on the edge of the scrubby desert. A small flowering plant hosted a number of Big-headed Dronefly Eristalinus megacephalus. Droneflys are really Hoverflys that mimic bee drones or male hive bees.
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| Rack Beetle |
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| Big-headed Dronefly |