🌼🐝 The large shaggy bee (Panurgus banksianus) is noticeable because of its big mandibles. For this reason, it can easily be mistaken for a leafcutter bee (Megachile). However, the large shaggy bee is completely black, while dark leafcutter bee species have lighter and much more hair. In addition, shaggy bees collect pollen on their legs, while leafcutter bees collect it on their belly. In Germany, there are three species of shaggy bees, and the large shaggy bee is the biggest of them. Their nests are built in sandy soil or loess, often in larger groups, typically on slopes, unpaved paths, in sand and clay pits, or at the edges of forests. They prefer yellow flowers, such as this water ragwort (Jacobaea aquatica), discovered on a wet meadow near the Stierstädter swamp.

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🌻🐝 I'm still waiting for my bumblebee membership application to be accepted. I also love sunflowers, enjoy lazing around while appearing to be busy, and can fly. Maybe I wasn't entirely honest, but by the time they figure that out, I'll have long since become the bumblebee king.

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Insects also feel at home on Baltrum 😊

🪲 I encountered the mottled dingy-brown click beetle (Agrypnus murinus) quite frequently. Of course, it also showed me what lies beneath its beautiful wings! The adult beetles feed on grasses and leaves, while the larvae are predatory.

🪲 The dune darkling beetle (Phylan gibbus) is a relative of the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor). This small black beetle inhabits the coastal dunes (grey dunes) from Spain to southern Norway and is a flightless omnivore.

🪲 On the campsite, thousands of amorous garden chafers (Phyllopertha horticola) were buzzing around. They find exactly what they need, as they feed on oak and birch leaves as well as rose blossoms. These plants are very common on Baltrum.

🪲 The alder leaf beetle (Agelastica alni) also finds plenty of suitable food on Baltrum. Although it primarily feeds on the leaves of alders (Alnus), it also eats the leaves of creeping willows (Salix repens) and downy birches (Betula pubescens), which are common on the small island, and occasionally those of bird cherries (Prunus padus).

🦋 The red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) is a strikingly large migratory butterfly. Here it is feeding on the blossoms of a bird cherry (Prunus padus).

🦋 Blue like the sky is the common blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus). It's quite cute. It finds plenty of flowers on Baltrum, for example clover and thistles. I encountered this one on a salt meadow.

🪰 Flies are, of course, native to Baltrum as well. I believe the small fly on the dog rose (Rosa canina) is a species of Phaonia. However, it is not easy to say for sure.

🪰 The large blowfly on the windowpane is probably a Calliphora vicina, at least the brown mandible area suggests so. It finds many bird and rabbit carcasses on the island for its larvae – of which I have seen quite a few.

🐝 On a common bugloss (Anchusa officinalis), I saw a buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) climbing from flower to flower. Was its rear already too fat to fly?

🍯 I also spotted honeybees (Apis mellifera). Of course, people on Baltrum don’t want to do without their own honey.

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💩🦎 Silence is the order left behind.

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🦗🎶 We can chirp while we sense the lizards lurking. Is there an order?

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Am I the bad guy for waking up these three brown marmorated stink bugs (Halyomorpha halys), or the good guy for letting them know in time that spring is here? 🤔

They were sleeping soundly when I opened the lounger for my sunbathing session. 😅

I first let them wake up, then I took them in my hand, from where they flew away one after the other. 😊

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👨‍💻🪳 Artificial Roach: Which video is real and which was completely AI generated?

One of my dubia roaches (Blaptica dubia) and it's artificial duplicate.

💻 In the beta version of Premiere Pro, you can easily enhance videos using AI (Adobe Firefly). Of course, you can still recognize what is real.

👀 How will we experience the world in our future?

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🐞🏘☃️ Why are ladybirds often found indoors in winter? Because the warmth attracts them. The problem is that there is no liquid or food in the house. A trap! Put ladybirds outside, even when it is cold. They will hibernate and wake up again in the spring. It is best to release them where they are not far from a protective hiding place, for example small gaps between objects outside that are protected from rain.

🔥✨️ Intuition isn't always positive or helpful. It relies on instinctive or automatic processes that don't always align with the current situation. The example of ladybugs seeking warmth in winter and dying because they end up in houses instead of going into hibernation illustrates well how intuitive responses can sometimes lead to negative or even fatal outcomes.

🧐 Why Intuition Can Be Flawed:

1. Evolutionary Basis: Intuition and instinctive behaviors are often rooted in mechanisms that have been evolutionarily advantageous. However, they are not always flexible enough to adapt to novel or artificial situations (like human homes).

2. Misinterpretation of Stimuli: Ladybugs perceive warmth in a house as a potential refuge, even though this misinterpretation of environmental cues can be deadly.

3. Automated Behavior: Intuition doesn’t involve conscious, reflective decision-making. It relies on patterns that often—but not always—lead to success.

Humans also experience flawed intuition. A well-known example is the availability heuristic, where people overestimate a danger because they've recently heard about a similar event, leading to irrational decisions.

Its effectiveness depends on how well the underlying patterns match the current situation.

In both cases—whether it's the ladybird seeking warmth in the wrong place or a person making a decision based on an emotional reaction rather than careful analysis—intuition can be both helpful and hazardous. Recognizing the limits of intuition, especially in new or unfamiliar situations, is key to making more informed decisions.

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🍂🐝 At the end of October on the Northern Hemisphere, common wasps (Vespula vulgaris) enter a phase of retreat and transformation. Most worker wasps and drones die off as the weather cools, while newly fertilized queens find sheltered spots to hibernate through winter, preparing to start a new colony in spring. During this period, the few remaining wasps seek out the last bits of nourishment before the temperatures drop too low for them to remain active.

🌷🌳🍂☃️ When I see a wasp nibbling on a dead spider at this time of year, it becomes a symbol of the last efforts in nature’s cycle. She herself is bound to the limits of her lifecycle, shaped by the greater rhythms of the seasons. She represents a moment when even the smallest beings, like ourselves, must align our actions with nature’s cycle, adapting to external conditions that shape and connect us all.

In this transitional season, the wasp reminds me that our interconnectedness with the world is constantly shifting, just as we must adapt and find our place within the phases of life, always dependent on the larger cycle that sustains us.

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🌦🍂 Last day of September: This paper wasp (Polistes dominula) is dying. In September, all of them die, except for the young queens. It is cold and rainy, and it no longer has the strength to fly.

Wasps evoke different reactions in people. The paper wasp is very peaceful and rarely stings, even if you approach its nest. You can recognize it by its orange wings and legs.

I personally don’t perceive other wasps as aggressive either, as long as one respects their natural behavior and boundaries. I forgive and accept that they are not always capable of such foresight themselves.

However, many people react aggressively or fearfully at the sight of a wasp. These strong emotions limit compassion and make it easier to cause these animals harm.

But even if we try to cultivate compassion, true intentions and contexts can easily be misunderstood.

This wasp is visibly moving toward me. It does not want to attack me. Nor is it seeking contact with me as a person. It simply wants my body heat because, in its own perception, it is freezing and still fighting for survival in its final hour.

Yet I leave it to nature, because I understand that its desire, without its knowledge, would only prolong its own suffering.

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