Funky fly and The Terrible Sadistro
Another evening in the lovely sun and did a macro trek to the few spots where there's always something strange going on.
Found this funky fly with amazing eyes:
"I know it looks like some really cool shades, but it's my eyes. Really! Yes, they are striped, you're right - I've never thought of that!"
So after a while spent desperately trying to find some spiders, I stumbled across two of these fellas. They look terrifying with their spiked spikes, and remind me of a character in a book my dad read to me when I was a child. The character is called "The Terrible Sadistro", and in the story, he basically captures innocent bugs and puts them in his terrible prison for no reason whatsoever. He captures a ladybird called Marietta and the heroic boyfriend - whose name escapes me - gets loads of other insects involved in a rescue mission the crux of which includes Sadistro being squashed under a twig. All very dramatic.
So tonight, I got to see the caterpillar which may have been the inspiration for the book:
Behold The Terrible Sadistro - he takes ladybirds as slaves in his secret den...and probably does unspeakable things to them.