x8 images. Double click to enlarge. It was a fellow blogger Sconzani who runs a wonderful blog with the lovely tiltle Earthstar ~ a celebration of nature who got me looking much more closely at the leaves on not only the trees, but most anything else which has leaves. Leafminers can be from different insect… Read More Can’t See The Wood For The Trees? … What About The Leaves?
x1 image. Double click to enlarge. This attractive fly is called the Broad Centurian (Chloromyia formosa). It is a sexually dimorphic species where both male and female have a shiny green thorax but the female has a blue-green abdomen, sometimes with a violet sheen, and the male has a bronze abdomen. This is a female. Look… Read More Fabulous Fly
Bibio marci – There have been quite a few of these large dark flies recently out and about. The male is depicted in the top image, and the female below, which shows obvious differences between the sexes. They appear around April 25th, St Mark’s Day, hence the name. They are quite slow and lazy fliers.… Read More St Mark’s Fly
Scathophaga stercoraria – flies, like spiders, are not everyones cup tea, I know … but here is another fly, this one I discovered resting on fern. Double-click image to enlarge. © Peter Hillman ♦ 22nd June 2019 ♦ Local woodland path, Staffordshire ♦ Nikon D7200
This one was a new one for me. I know it’s but a fly, but I am always taken by the beautiful metallic green sheen. Double-click image for a closer look. © Peter Hillman ♦ 26th March 2020 ♦ Local woodland path, Staffordshire ♦ Nikon D7200
A small fly at around 4mm (3/16in) long. They are often seen sunning themselves on vegetaion, and they are fairly common and widespread. The larvae of these flies are important recyclers of dead plant material. Doubl-click for a closer look-see. Copyright: Peter HillmanCamera used: Nikon D7200Date taken: 23rd June 2019Place: Rear garden, Staffordshire
Syrphus sp. – I am fortunate to have many hoverfly visitors to the garden. This one was taking a break from all that hovering about by resting on a leaf of my crabapple. Double-click to see more detail. Copyright: Peter HillmanCamera used: Nikon D7200Date taken: 26th June 2019Place: Rear garden, Staffordshire
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer … Meet Lucilia sericata, a brighly polished-looking fly. This one has rather tattered wings. June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Click and click again on the image to get that little bit closer … Drone Fly Eristalis tenax, June 2019, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
Click once to expand view, click again to get that little bit closer Female of the species, September 2018, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
I came across this lovely couple as I was walking through the local fields. They are conopid flies, or thick-headed flies, which frequent hedgerows and flowery meadows where they feed on nectar or pollen. The larvae are parasites which feed on wasps and bees. Click once to expand view, click again to get that little… Read More Sicus ferrugineus
This was quite a bold fly which appeared not to be bothered by me invading its space as I maneuvered myself and my camera about it, fiddling with the camera settings during the changeable light. Click once to expand view, click again to get that little bit closer June 2018, local woodland margin, Staffordshire, England.… Read More Common Awl Robberfly Neoitamus cyanurus
I came across this distinctive fly near my local river, and it certainly did stand out from the greenery and was quite hard to miss. The toffee coloured wings are really quite something, apart from the carrot orange body of the fly with its black markings. It is generally found in areas of rich vegetation… Read More Marsh Snipefly Rhagio tringarius
By pure coincidence as I was photographing the garden pond for the previous blog to my joy I had this delightful little visitor alight on the Yellow Flag Iris. It is called the Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus, and I had to do quite the balancing act, getting my socks wet more than once, to get… Read More Let’s Have Some Marmalade!
As you can see this is quite a small fly I discovered sunning itself on a petal of Lesser Celandine. It is called the Yellow Spear-winged Fly Lonchoptera lutea, and it prefers shady habitats, despite it warming itself on this occasion. April 2018, local woodland margin, Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman
This is certainly a fly you cannot miss with it’s bright orange abdomen, dark stripe and bristly appearance. It is fairly large, too, as flies go with a length of 9-16mm (0.4-0.6in). This one was taken with my Water Mint, feeding on its nectar. The adults are usually seen May to September. They are fairly… Read More Tachina fera
The colour of this small brightly coloured yellow to orange fly really caught my eye. It is about 4mm (0.16in) long, and is seen May to October. A fairly common and widespread species, it can often be seen resting on low vegetation or feeding on the nectar of flowers. The larvae feed on dead leaves.… Read More Tricholauxania praeusta
This very tiny fly which I happened to find on my patio door is a Simulium. It is from a genus of black flies which are between 3 and 7mm (0.1 and 0.3in) long. Not to be confused with aphids, these are biting flies which suck blood, including human blood, and which can cause serious… Read More Black Fly Simulium sp.
Sometimes called the ‘Common Green Bottle Fly’ or the ‘Sheep Blow Fly’, it is one of the commonest and best known flies. Very distinctive with its metallic green colouring and dark bristles, but it can also have a metallic copper green tinge as well. It is often found basking on walls, fencing or vegetation. And… Read More Lucilia sericata
I initially found this large cranefly on top of blanketweed in my garden pond. They can grow up to a length of 2cm (3/4 inch), and have a distinguishing pale line which runs down the back of the abdomen. This is a female with the pointed abdomen, which is actually her ovipositor for laying eggs.… Read More Tipula lateralis
Even the name of this fly Calliphora vomitoria sounds kind of disgusting, with the ‘vomitoria’ no doubt relating to its habit of regurgitating its food and then eating it again. But it is not really its fault, as we will see later. ‘Bluebottle’ sounds better, which is a description of its gleaming blue abdomen. It… Read More Calliphora vomitoria
Measuring almost 2cm (almost 2 inches) long, this is our largest hoverfly. It is called Hornet Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria), and it was enjoying itself amid the blooms of my Buddleia. July 2017, rear garden, Staffordshire, England.
Before I began to write this I thought, shall I just leave folk guessing what this is? Maybe I will, or … we will see … It is taken from quite an unusal angle, and I suppose it looks like some kind of unusual golden screw with spikes or hairs radiating outwards. Yet it is… Read More Propelled
Thick-legged Hoverfly (Syritta pipiens), on rose. Rear garden, Staffordshire, England. July 2017. Please click on an image for a larger more detailed view. Clicking a second time may get you a little closer.
This hoverfly, the Narcissus Bulb Fly (Merodon equestris), must have been a tired fellow, for I found him quite still and resting on the arm of one of my garden chairs earlier this morning. His wings looked a little worse for wear and quite worn out. He must have done a fair few air miles.… Read More A Tired Visitor
I believe this to be a Greenbottle blowfly, a member of the Calliphoridae family of the order Diptera and a Lucilia sp. I did not realise at the time of photographing that this female was blowing quite a clear bubble for me. This appears to be quite a common activity in the insect world. So… Read More I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles
Calliphora vicina Commonly called the ‘Bluebottle’ fly, several of them appear to be enjoying feeding off my Spindle which is just coming into flower at the bottom of my garden. This is the commonest of the Blubottles in Britain, Calliphora vomitoria being very similar, but less common. Calliphora vicina has quite a striking metallic blue… Read More European Blowfly
I believe this to be the species identified in the title as there are several similar species. To note the yellowish legs, black antennae, black hairs behind the eyes, and there are several preapical bristles on hind femur. Although its has a similar metallic green to some of our Greenbottle flies, it actually belongs to… Read More Dolichopus ungulatus
The hoverfly, Sun Fly (Helophilus pendulus), is back and landing on rocks around my garden pond. It appears it may well be a regular visitor. May 2017, Staffordshire, England.
Please click on the images for larger, more detailed views. Nikon D7200 with Sigma 105mm macro lens, ISO 100, 1/125sec at f/7.1, handheld. Flesh-fly, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. May 2017.
Greenbottle Fly, rear garden, Staffordshire, England. April 2017.
Please click on images for a larger more detailed view. Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax), rear garden, Staffordshire, England. April 2017.
This is one hoverfly that has eluded my camera until now. For a fly it is certainly a showy one with its shiny brassy-coloured and yellow markings. A relatively small hoverfly with a wing length of between 6.5 to 9.5mm, it is mainly seen in the spring, from March through to May, feeding on flowers… Read More Epistrophe eligans
I had a visitor today. This Bee Fly (Bombylius major) was feeding from one of my Grape Hyacinth blooms between April showers. It must be tiring work all this high speed buzzing about, as it had to take a rest on a stone in the warm spring sunshine.
The warmer sunshine has been bringing the insects out, and many have set up their favourite sunbathing spots on my Spotted Laurel at the bottom of my garden. But this one was not sunbathing, it was doing something which I had not seen before. Above the Spotted Laurel grows a tall yellow berberis bush which… Read More A Curious Fly
Another insect was attracted to the early spring sweet offering from the Lesser Celadine. Another fly, with the delightful name of the Marmalade Hoverfly.
It has been a very changeable morning with the light, having to keep altering the camera settings as the sun ducked in out of the clouds like it was playing some kind of celestial hide-and-seek, but at least it hasn’t rained yet. I went on one of my walks through the local woodland, mainly looking… Read More Bee Fly Bombylius major
I know flies are not everbodies cup of tea, so to speak, but some certainly stand out and have the most striking colours and patterns. One of many similar species of housefly. It has an orange body (females have more black colouration) and a grey and white stripy thorax with an orange scutellum. It has… Read More Phaonia subventa
Photograph taken December 2016, front garden, Staffordshire. © Pete Hillman 2016. Camera used Nikon D7200, with Sigma 105mm macro lens.
This small fist-like ball on the end of this fern frond is caused by a fly called Chirosia grossicauda. The larvae tunnel into the central veins of the pinnules in late summer and cause them to roll downwards from the tip. The solitary white maggot feeds on the main vein by mining. Mature larvae most… Read More Chirosia grossicauda
