Wildlife garden bug safari

After my encounter this morning with the basking Nursery web spiders, I popped back to the wildlife garden after a storm had passed and there was some promise of a sunny spell. The spiders weren't out, but I found a few interesting invertebrates about, including two new species for the garden.

A Peacock, which together with a couple of large whites were the only butterflies about.

 The first nice surprise were a couple of Green Thistle Tortoise Beetles (Cassida rubiginosa), which I had never seen before, both of them on knapweed:

Then I found some Rophalus subrufus, including a couple mating.

A Green shieldbug came out on the leaves to bask.

And then I came across some nursery web spiders, one of them a male prowling...

...demonstrating how agile they are moving across leaves, hiding behind them quickly if I moved a bit too fast or too close.

...and a placid female sunning herself on the oregano of the herb garden.

 Just before leaving, another new species for me, a very pale grass spider, Tibellus oblongus, contrasting with the green leaves.