Nina

She/her – Student Hobby naturalist, houseplant keeper and spider enthusiast based in Switzerland.

[chimerarachnid]

Just a busy, little furry friend very hard at work.

[bogleech]

a hairy little dig dig!!!

[hapalopus]

[nina-s-ch]

Larinioides sclopetarius

📍 Switzerland (03.01.2026)

[nina-s-ch]

Nuctenea umbratica 🕷️🌿

21.10.2025 (Switzerland)

[littleorangemushrooms]

European hornet Vespa crabro eating a wasp.

Meadow, Wales

[nina-s-ch]

They are stunning!

Absolutely terrifying if one happens to fly towards you. But they generally mind their own business.

[spidersdaily]

[iwilltryalittlearter]

Bug sidewalk

[nina-s-ch]

Came across my first stag beetle today! Meet Dorcus parallelipipedus, the lesser stag beetle.

User alberto_colatore on iNaturalist also confirmed my initial assumption and flagged it to be a male.

I'm super excited to have seen one of these beetles in my area 🌿🪲

[coleopterabyte]

Part of the reason I'm so adamant about encouraging people to get comfortable with bugs, my own interests aside, is because we cannot have a bright, solarpunk future without them.

A green future is not a bugless future. It is, in fact, a fairly bugful future. If you care about ecological stability, then you need to start with bugs, because they're the most at risk with our current use of pesticides.

[nina-s-ch]

I don't know what he's doing, but I'm certain he's a professional.

[nina-s-ch]

ꊯꌅꑀꑀ ꂵꑀ ꐔꊿꌈ ꊯꊿꊿ꒒

Mamestra brassicae (cabbage moth)

[samspicturesandwords]

Look at this sweet, beautiful creature!

[nina-s-ch]

I encountered this strange looking fly a while ago and was wondering if anyone can help with an ID?

(And why does it look so angry?)

📍 Switzerland (31.05.2025)

Edit: A good soul (dipterajere on iNaturalist) flagged it to be a fruit fly of the Genus Noeeta. And Entomologist cooperjohn also flagged the fly to be male.

[nina-s-ch]

Agalenatea redii (Araneidae)

One of my favourite orb weavers to spot on a stroll through the meadow. This Agalenatea redii disguises itself as a dead flower bud.

[nina-s-ch]

Cucullia verbasci (mullein moth caterpillar)

[inatarachnids]

European Yellow Sac Spider (Cheiracanthium punctorium)

Observed by bugzone, CC BY-NC

[nina-s-ch]

One of the very few species in Europe recorded to actually puncture human skin. The initial pain of the bite is often compaired to a bee or wasp sting. There are mixed reports of other symptoms too which subside within 1-2 days.

Nevertheless, a super fascinating spider!

[nina-s-ch]

📷 : Salticidae (unknown sp.)

This little jumping spider made its way into my apartment not too long ago. Still unsure what exact genus/species he was, since he seemed bigger than the usual jumpers running about.

📍 Switzerland