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Thread: Critter identification please!

  1. #1
    Grand Master TheFlyingBanana's Avatar
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    Critter identification please!

    I know there are some knowledgable amateur entemologists on here, so can anyone help with the identification of this impressive little fella? My wife is worried he might invite all his mates to come and munch on her box (hedging!).

    [IMG] [/IMG]


    Plus, when out walking the dog yesterday I stumbled upon this chap. Can't for the life of me think what it is. Can anyone help?

    I sort of feel it should be some kind of forum mascot...

    [IMG][/IMG]
    So clever my foot fell off.

  2. #2
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    Neither photo loading for me (iPad on Tapatalk)

  3. #3
    Craftsman
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    The last one i am pretty sure it is a Slow worm...

    The other..... get a flame thrower.... now

    Regards

    V

  4. #4
    first one looks like a cockchafer (snigger) / maybug , second one is a slowworm.

  5. #5
    Master unclealec's Avatar
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    Yay!! At long last!! It is!!


    The beetle thing - it is a Cockchafer, so keep it away from your trousers.

  6. #6
    The snake looking thing is a slow worm I believe and the other thing, wait for it : A cockchafer beetle

    That critter has made news headlines in the past and is known as a May bug I think

    Rather than Messerschmitts and Junkers darkening the skies, this time it is a small flying insect that is bugging the Garden of England.

    Dense formations of cockchafers, an inch-long flying beetle, have been blitzing the seaside town of Margate in recent days, dive-bombing cars and strafing washing lines with their droppings.

    The unseasonal invasion of cockchafers – their other popular name is May bug – is believed to be down to the huge amounts of seaweed that have been washing up on the shoreline recently.


  7. #7
    Grand Master learningtofly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by unclealec View Post
    Yay!! At long last!! It is!!

  8. #8
    Grand Master hogthrob's Avatar
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    The second one's a nope rope.

  9. #9
    Master Christian's Avatar
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    Second one is a lizard. Definitely not a worm or a snake.



    Edit: Thought the above was a heavy enough hint I knew what it was without spelling it out!
    Last edited by Christian; 21st May 2020 at 13:33.

  10. #10
    Master Kirk280's Avatar
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    The first one is a slow beetle

  11. #11
    We've had, if not exactly an invasion, but a visitation by cockchafers recently - 3 in the house in the last couple of weeks. They crash about and make a racket but they're basically harmless, to humans at least. Stupid creatures, too, they seem to spend half their time upside down trying to right themselves.. maybe their centre of gravity's off.

    They have been scooped up with a glass and politely but firmly defenestrated with an admonishment to not come back.

    Cheers,

    Plug

  12. #12
    Master Ruggertech's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Christian View Post
    Second one is a lizard. Definitely not a worm or a snake.
    It is a lizard correct, but a legless variety (I haven't touched a drop!) called a slow worm, as others have said.

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  13. #13
    Master unclealec's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Christian View Post
    Second one is a lizard. Definitely not a worm or a snake.
    A slow worm is a lizard, but it is legless.

    Just as Kirk280 is a TZUK member but legless (sometimes).

  14. #14
    Master Kirk280's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by unclealec View Post
    A slow worm is a lizard, but it is legless.

    Just as Kirk280 is a TZUK member but legless (sometimes).
    I’m quite slow, too.

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    My daughter caught one of these the other day and it's currently in a big pile of dry leaves in an old fishtank biding its time before escaping - if my childhood experiences are anything to go on. I told the kids what they eat and so the tank is now crawling with bugs - it apparently visibly ate something and so they are absolutely focussed on it doing it again - I'll throw a picture up later if anyone is interested.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by M4tt View Post
    My daughter caught one of these the other day and it's currently in a big pile of dry leaves in an old fishtank biding its time before escaping - if my childhood experiences are anything to go on. I told the kids what they eat and so the tank is now crawling with bugs - it apparently visibly ate something and so they are absolutely focussed on it doing it again - I'll throw a picture up later if anyone is interested.
    If you are talking about the slow worm, they don’t like dry leaves they live in humid rotting matter like grass heaps. They are also a protected species.

  17. #17
    Master Ruggertech's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by craig1912 View Post
    If you are talking about the slow worm, they don’t like dry leaves they live in humid rotting matter like grass heaps. They are also a protected species.
    You beat me to it, the poor creature needs to be put back in it's normal habitat, not a sideshow for bored offspring.

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  18. #18
    Master Christian's Avatar
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    Protected yes, but it’s not illegal for his children to have caught it as long as they don’t kill, injure or attempt to sell the thing. Not saying anything but clarifying that I don’t believe he’s done anything illegal.

    Considering mating season is right about now, I think it’s even worse to have the thing in a tank at this time.

  19. #19
    Grand Master learningtofly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kirk280 View Post
    I’m quite slow, too.
    Especially when you're legless.

  20. #20
    Master Ruggertech's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Christian View Post
    Protected yes, but it’s not illegal for his children to have caught it as long as they don’t kill, injure or attempt to sell the thing. Not saying anything but clarifying that I don’t believe he’s done anything illegal.

    Considering mating season is right about now, I think it’s even worse to have the thing in a tank at this time.
    No one has suggested he's done anything actually illegal, but he has (I assume unwittingly) created an unnecessarily stressful situation and environment for a wild creature as you have rightly alluded to.

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  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ruggertech View Post
    No one has suggested he's done anything actually illegal, but he has (I assume unwittingly) created an unnecessarily stressful situation and environment for a wild creature as you have rightly alluded to.

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    This /\

  22. #22
    We call them Billy Witches, my daughter left me one under a cup in the kitchen yesterday.

  23. #23
    Master unclealec's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LuvWatch View Post
    We call them Billy Witches, my daughter left me one under a cup in the kitchen yesterday.
    She must be very good at coiling things up!

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by unclealec View Post
    She must be very good at coiling things up!
    Not the Slow Worm

  25. #25
    Is it a slow worm?

  26. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by craig1912 View Post
    If you are talking about the slow worm, they don’t like dry leaves they live in humid rotting matter like grass heaps. They are also a protected species.
    Yep section five. It's not for sale. You want to find a dozy sloworm look under something dry. They hunt in damp environments, they don't bed down in them. I'm pretty sure that I've got the environment just right as long as I spray it daily with rainwater. The fact that it is happily basking and eating suggests it's not terribly stressed. I kept one as a kid and it lived for many years so I think I'm on reasonably safe territory.

    The point about mating season is a good one though. Perhaps I'll catch her a male.
    Last edited by M4tt; 21st May 2020 at 15:33.

  27. #27
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    The bug in the first pic is as common as muck in Spain and they are a sort of bee that looks like a beetle. They are good pollinators and are very useful. They are also very randy and procreate faster than mice. They spend a lot of time copulating whilst pollenating. You often see them jumping on and off each other. The wife and myself must see hundreds of these every day. As far as I know, they do not sting and do not seem aggressive.

  28. #28
    Master unclealec's Avatar
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    Foe those with limited knowledge of slow worms, it may be interesting to know that one of their defence tricks is to shed their tail. It twitches wildly as a distraction to whatever is attacking it.
    It eventually grows back to a limited extent, so that ones that have deployed this tactic display a stumpy appearance.

  29. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by unclealec View Post
    Foe those with limited knowledge of slow worms, it may be interesting to know that one of their defence tricks is to shed their tail. It twitches wildly as a distraction to whatever is attacking it.
    It eventually grows back to a limited extent, so that ones that have deployed this tactic display a stumpy appearance.
    I knew that if a predator has them by the tail and tore or bit it off it would regrow and look stumpy, often see them like that in our garden, escapees of my moggy more than likely. But I didn't know they could shed it on purpose as a diversion. Well every day is a school day, thank you.

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  30. #30
    Grand Master dkpw's Avatar
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    Can someone please explain the running "slow worm" reference which has filtered through the forum for some months now? I must have missed that particular thread.

    Thanks in advance!

  31. #31
    Master unclealec's Avatar
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    In similar vein to this thread, a year or two ago someone innocently posted a photo of some totally and obviously non-slow-worm creature (like a dragonfly larva or a leech or something) enquiring as to the exact nature of this beastie, and one replier was adamant that it was a slow worm and that he should know because his dad had a slow worm farm, or was related to a slow worm, or something similar.
    He was so adamant, and so obviously wrong, that it became a legendary thread and that is why its memory is invoked for comic effect when a similar question is posed.
    No doubt someone will (or already has) post a link to the original and best.

    TBH you had to be there..........

    I suppose it is the TZUK equivalent of Mornington Crescent.
    Last edited by unclealec; 21st May 2020 at 15:59.

  32. #32
    Grand Master dkpw's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by unclealec View Post
    In similar vein to this thread, a year or two ago someone innocently posted a photo of some totally and obviously non-slow-worm creature (like a dragonfly larva or a leech or something) enquiring as to the exact nature of this beastie, and one replier was adamant that it was a slow worm and that he should know because his dad had a slow worm farm, or was related to a slow worm, or something similar.
    He was so adamant, and so obviously wrong, that it became a legendary thread and that is why its memory is invoked for comic effect when a similar question is posed.
    No doubt someone will (or already has) post a link to the original and best.

    TBH you had to be there..........

    I suppose it is the TZUK equivalent of Mornington Crescent.
    Ah - got it now. Thank you. I too must be slow, as TBH it did take me many years to work out that Mornington Crescent didn't have any rules.... and that Samantha / Sven were fictional. I'll get me coat.

  33. #33
    Master unclealec's Avatar
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    I did a forum search on "slow worm" but failed to find the original thread.

    However, I have been chuckling away at some of the tongue-in-cheek applications of the erroneous slow worm diagnosis; I suggest that those with enough time to spare in their current hectic schedules give it a try.

    And if you do find the original, please post the link.

  34. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by M4tt View Post
    Yep section five. It's not for sale. You want to find a dozy sloworm look under something dry. They hunt in damp environments, they don't bed down in them. I'm pretty sure that I've got the environment just right as long as I spray it daily with rainwater. The fact that it is happily basking and eating suggests it's not terribly stressed. I kept one as a kid and it lived for many years so I think I'm on reasonably safe territory.

    The point about mating season is a good one though. Perhaps I'll catch her a male.
    Fair enough although I don’t know what the bold means??
    Must have at least a dozen of them in my garden. Tend to congregate in a couple of compost/grass heaps.
    Last edited by craig1912; 21st May 2020 at 17:08.

  35. #35
    Master unclealec's Avatar
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    The hedges surrounding my childhood home in back-lane east Cornwall were alive with them, and common lizards.

  36. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by unclealec View Post
    Foe those with limited knowledge of slow worms, it may be interesting to know that one of their defence tricks is to shed their tail. It twitches wildly as a distraction to whatever is attacking it.
    It eventually grows back to a limited extent, so that ones that have deployed this tactic display a stumpy appearance.
    They also release a mixture of faeces and some other foul thing that you either can or can't smell. I'm told it's genetic. Unlike grass snakes which release something that stinks for day and everyone can smell it.

  37. #37
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    Def a slow worm. Next doors old cat used to bite them in half and squeeze the insides out of them like a calippo leaving a gift at the back door.

    Yuck.

  38. #38
    Grand Master Sinnlover's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by unclealec View Post
    I did a forum search on "slow worm" but failed to find the original thread.

    However, I have been chuckling away at some of the tongue-in-cheek applications of the erroneous slow worm diagnosis; I suggest that those with enough time to spare in their current hectic schedules give it a try.

    And if you do find the original, please post the link.
    https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...ight=Slow+worm

    Think I have found it

  39. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by M4tt View Post
    They also release a mixture of faeces and some other foul thing that you either can or can't smell. I'm told it's genetic. Unlike grass snakes which release something that stinks for day and everyone can smell it.
    I thought "slow worm" was another name for a grass snake, and vice versa??

  40. #40
    I’m saved this one from the dogs a few weekends ago, I generally see these dead embedded in the front of car grilles and haven’t seen a live one for years.
    Maybugs are a weird creature especially they’re flowery antenna things



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  41. #41
    Master Ruggertech's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by redmonaco View Post
    I thought "slow worm" was another name for a grass snake, and vice versa??
    No, completely different species, a grass snake is an actual snake, and a slow worm is a legless lizard.

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  42. #42
    Grand Master number2's Avatar
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    Slow worm, like MX-5 is a forum generic solution to most problems.
    "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."

    'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.

  43. #43
    Grand Master number2's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ruggertech View Post
    No, completely different species, a grass snake is an actual snake, and a slow worm is a legless lizard.

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    Correct which is why the worm can sacrifice the end of its tail as lizards do.
    "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."

    'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.

  44. #44
    Grand Master dkpw's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sinnlover View Post
    Most kind. I shall peruse at my leisure.

  45. #45
    Master Ruggertech's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by number2 View Post
    Correct which is why the worm can sacrifice the end of its tail as lizards do.
    It wasn't until reading this thread that I found out they can do it on purpose as a diversion.

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  46. #46
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    Clever beasts can grow back a shorter version if the original is shed (as distraction to aggressor). However, Mk2 is not sheddable (?)....so it is a one-off emergency escape measure.


    https://www.gwct.org.uk/wildlife/spe...017/slow-worm/


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  47. #47
    Master unclealec's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sinnlover View Post
    I think you have; many thanks.

    I was a tad wrong; the animal in question was indeed a slow worm, but someone claimed it was a wasp.

  48. #48
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    I’m out for a walk with my daughter and our dog as I write this and we just came across this little fella. My daughter was nervous about holding it until I assured her it was perfectly harmless.
    I put it in the grass at the side of the path.

  49. #49
    Quote Originally Posted by jaytip View Post
    I’m out for a walk with my daughter and our dog as I write this and we just came across this little fella.
    Any idea what it was?

  50. #50
    Master Ruggertech's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by E_2_Right-Force View Post
    Any idea what it was?
    From the photo I'd say a grass snake.

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