Where to find bugs?

[hadgo]

Any tips on where to find some interesting bugs and the best places to go? I seem to be wandering round the garden aimlessly hoping for something to move and for me to see it.
Any help would be much appreciated

Tom

[Cassiedup]

All living creatures on this planet has two main objectives in life (man included), feeding and breeding, get to know more about your intended subject and you'll find it.
On the other hand I've been surprised quite often in my garden when I sat down next to a plant with "nothing" for a few minutes.

[DQE]

Also, I suggest that you take a look at a relatively new book on "tracking bugs":

http://www.amazon.com/Tracks-Sign-In...6780695&sr=1-1

You can use the Amazon "look inside" feature to find out if it seems useful for your purposes. My partner and I bought the book and have very much enjoyed reading it, and we also look forward to using its information this summer.
---------------------

I also personally have trouble finding bugs. I soon noticed that my partner quickly and easily finds many more bugs than I do. I soon concluded that her visual search patterns and skills are simply substantially better than mine - it's not a matter of visual acuity but rather is a matter of finding small things in a visually cluttered environment. People vary quite a lot re this skill. Thus, I often ask her to be my "bug finder" or "bug guide" and I then try to take their photographs. Fortunately, she is also a bug and enjoys a bit of macro bug photography with her P&S.

[EL_PIC]

Canon new releases are a good source of bugs.

[AntonLargiader]

Start by just looking closer. There's an amazing amount of stuff right in front of us, pretty much all the time.

[Cassiedup]

Originally Posted by EL_PIC

Canon new releases are a good source of bugs.

Not sure of this one, I'm constantly being reminded (even on this forum) that Nikon is allways BETTER .

[madjack]

I know this chick Susie that is a good source of bugs if you'd like her number...

[hadgo]

The only thing I am really finding is flies, I have had a few other things but nothing really that special. I want to find some stranger bugs. Some beetles but I'm not sure where to look. Some spiders would be nice also. There is a bush in my garden which seems a really good place for a crab spider. Perfect colours, I just need to wait for the right day and hope there is on there

[racketman]

help to know where exactly you live?

[hadgo]

Originally Posted by racketman

help to know where exactly you live?

Newcastle under lyme, staffordshire

[calypsob]

your best bet is to go find a local botanical garden or park that supports a diversity of plant species and different habitats. You will find lots of different species near bodies of water such as park ponds and also large fields and tall grass. Also, I have large overgrown kudzu field behind my house and I always find new insects every time I go exploring. There are over 8.7 million species of insect on this planet so if you keep searching you are bound to stumble upon something new and interesting. Good luck

[Clean Gene]

Originally Posted by hadgo

Any tips on where to find some interesting bugs and the best places to go? I seem to be wandering round the garden aimlessly hoping for something to move and for me to see it.
Any help would be much appreciated

Tom

Any particular bugs you are looking for? Because one thing that's really easy to find...just gut a fish and leave the innards outside for half an hour. You'll get flies, guaranteed.

Buy some raw chicken from the grocery store and leave it outside for a few days. You'll get cockroaches and maggots.

It's fairly easy to find beetles and moths near outdoor lighting at night.

It's also getting to cicada season (depending on where you live). While you're unlikely to see a live nymph or catch a live adult, the molting nymphs leave their skins lying around intact all over the place. They can be cool to shoot. They're intact enough to look like a complete bug, but they are also semi-transluscent, which enables you to make them glow with a little bit of backlighting.

If you're aware of any dead or rotting logs that have been sitting around for months or years, you can often take a hatchet to them and find numerous grubs inside.

Bugs are all over the place. The only question is what bugs you want to shoot, and if you're willing to shoot the bugs that you find.

Personally, I'm hoping to find some more rat-tailed maggots. They're really just nasty and gross and disturbing. They're these little pulsating transparent gelatinous blobs. They also live in water, and it's sort of unsettling the way that they shoot huge black needle-like breathing tubes out of their butts. But I think those would be awesome to shoot, if I can ever find again. Put some backlight on them in order to really highlight their insides, and then that'd probably look really cool alongside the straight black needles jutting out of their rear ends.

EDIT: there are also all sorts of places on the internet that SELL interesting bugs. You could browse such places and see if anything suits you. Just be aware that many of those places don't ship internationally, and availability probably depends on applicable laws. Even if you manage to find someone who'll sell to you, it might not be legal for you to BUY it. So either be aware of the laws in your area, or don't get caught.

[racketman]

Nature reserves are usually good places. Staffordshire Wildlife trust looks after several

http://www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk/page/reserves

[Larry Weinman]

It is still a little early to be finding bugs in large quantities if you live in a northern climate. After your first week of reasonable heat you will probably find many species in roadside ditches and also by slow moving streams and rivers especially after the weeds have reached a reasonable size. Try small stagnant or semi stagnant ponds for dragonflies and damselflies. Look around and under dead logs for many other species. Check fields with flowers for pollen collectors. Pretty soon when the weather is really warm you will see all the bugs you want.