Flies: Sciara species

02 Friday Aug 2024

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British flies, flies, Fungus gnat fly species, Fungus gnats, Sciara hemerobioides, Sciara species

When I first noticed these little flies feasting on the nectar of Wild carrot flowers, I thought perhaps they were sawflies but, when looking at my photos on my laptop later, I realised their heads were far too small.

Turns out these are some kind of fungus gnat though, according to the NatureSpot website, there are several species with the same bright yellow abdomen. So, although these flies look very like the Sciara hemerobioides shown on that website, I’ve recorded them as Sciara species. As you may have worked out, it’s the larvae that feed on fungus, whereas the adults prefer umbellifers and other flora.

A buttercup full

06 Wednesday Sep 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects, wildflowers

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British insects, Buttercup, flies, insects on buttercup

Despite being in a field full of blooming wildflowers this single buttercup flower was obviously the most delicious as all the little flying insects wanted a part of it.

230906 buttercup and insects

Comes the sun

27 Monday Feb 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British flies, Episyrphus balteatus, flies, hoverfly, Marmalade hoverfly

Comes the sun, come the flies! A sheltered south-facing ivy-covered wall with assorted small shrubs, wild plants and dense leaf litter below is their little bit of paradise. The first of these images shows my second hoverfly for the year, a Marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), the rest I don’t know, nor am I bothered to discover their identities – I was simply enjoying seeing little critters flitting about the vegetation again, and knowing that more, including my beloved butterflies, will soon follow.

230227 flies

242/366 Bottoms on brambles

29 Saturday Aug 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, nature, plants

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blackberries, brambles, flies, insects on blackberries, insects on bramble, wasp

I don’t know about you but, when I’m out walking at this time of year, I’m often tempted to pluck and devour one of the luscious-looking blackberries growing on the bramble-covered fences and hedgerows.

Well, not any more. Not now I’ve seen how many flies like to suck at them and run their dirty little feet all over them. Just look at all those fly bottoms!

And let’s not even mention the very real possibility of getting stung by a wasp that’s jealously guarding ‘its’ berries. From now on, the berries are all for the beasties!

95/366 The buzz of new life

04 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, ladybird, nature, spring

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Tags

bees, British insects, bumblebees, flies, hoverflies

It only takes a few sunny days and warming temperatures to bring out the mini-beasties. These are some of the bees and bumbles, flies and hoverflies I’ve spotted over the past week or so. Oh, and I mustn’t forget, my first 7-spot ladybird of the season.

62/366 A flying start

02 Monday Mar 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring, wildflowers

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Alexanders, dandelion, flies, hoverflies, solitary bee

A little bit of sunshine and a sheltered spot, plus a few blooming wildflowers – in this case, dandelions and Alexanders, alongside a south Wales coastal road – and out came the flying critters: solitary bees a’buzzing, various species of flies a’flying and hoverflies a’hovering. Spring is off to a flying start!

200302 flying critters (1)

95/365 Braving the weather

05 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, spring

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#365DaysWild, British insects, bumblebee, flies, hoverfly, insects, ladybird

I only managed to grab an hour’s walk today, once again dodging the rain showers that have been rolling in throughout the day. I thought I might blog about the wild garlic that’s covering every inch of the wilder areas in Penarth’s Alexandra Park but decided it would be better to wait until the flowers are at their peak as that would make for better photos. Then, as I was checking out the garlic and taking a few shots, my eye was caught by the number of insects sitting on their leaves, basking in the fleeting patches of sunshine, braving the weather on this mostly grey wet day. So here they are …

On the scabious

31 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

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#FloralFriday, bees, British insects, British wildflowers, bumblebees, Devil's-bit scabious, flies, hoverflies, insects on scabious, Lavernock Nature Reserve, Succisa pratensis

180831 devil's-bit scabious (1)

Devil’s-bit scabious (Succisa pratensis) has a beautiful flower that paints the wildflower meadows at Lavernock Nature Reserve in shades of purple lusciousness and provides some very welcome late summer nectar and pollen to a host of insects, particularly bees, flies and butterflies.

And that name? Well, the story goes that the devil was not pleased that the plant’s medicinal properties were healing the skin conditions of people suffering from bubonic plague and scabies so, in a fit of rage, he tried to kill off the plant by biting off the ends of the plant’s roots. Ever the party pooper!

It’s a biggie

05 Sunday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Britain's largest tachnid fly, British flies, diptera, flies, fly, Tachina grossa

At first glance I thought this big brute was a hoverfly, ’cause I know there are some very large hoverflies, but one look at those eyes told me otherwise. Meet Tachina grossa, the largest Tachnid fly in Britain and Europe.

180805 Tachina grossa (4)

As you can see, it feeds on pollen and nectar and, though it’s harmless to us humans, it’s no friend of moths. The female Tachina grossa lays her eggs on living larvae, in particular the large hairy caterpillars of the Oak eggar moth and the Fox moth. The fly larvae eat the caterpillars from the inside, eventually but not immediately killing them.

So, it may look kind of cute in the photograph below but I’m just glad I’m not a large hairy caterpillar.

180805 Tachina grossa (2)

On the Bramble

13 Wednesday Jun 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, wildflowers

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#30DaysWild, #plantsforpollinators, #WildflowerHour, 30 Days Wild, bees, bramble, bumblebees, flies, hoverflies, Rubus fruticosus agg

Last Sunday, on #WildflowerHour, the challenge was to find #plantsforpollinators, i.e. to find wildflowers that support a variety of the insects that act as pollinators. I had found several different insects on Bramble flowers last week so posted a series of photos that showed them. And that gave me the idea for day 13 of #30DaysWild, namely to see what insects I could find on the local Bramble bushes. It was overcast and a bit cooler today, so I didn’t see as many butterflies as last week, but there were bees and bumblebees, flies and hoverflies, one butterfly, and a number of bugs and beetles. Here they are …