36!

05 Wednesday Nov 2025

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British hoverflies, British hoverfly larvae, fly larvae, hoverfly larvae, Syrphus larvae, Syrphus species

Thirty six is the number of hoverfly larvae I counted on a section of the local park railings, about 10 metres long, as I strolled very slowly past on Monday. They all look to be one of the Syrphus species of hoverfly; it’s not possible to be exact with the larvae of this particular species.

This is a great time of year to look for hoverfly larvae, particularly after stormy weather. They get shaken off the remaining leaves on trees, then try to climb back up to find yummy aphids to eat. So, if you look on railings or fences, even gravestones, particularly under Sycamore trees, you’ll probably be surprised at how many you can find.

And if you want to have a try at identifying any hoverfly larvae you discover, you’ll find a free downloadable pdf Colour Guide to Hoverfly Larvae on the Diptera.info website.

Lonchoptera larva

07 Tuesday Jan 2025

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves

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British flies, fly larva in leaf litter, fly larvae, leaf-fossicking, Lonchoptera, Lonchoptera larva, Spear-winged flies, Spear-winged fly larva

In mid December, I was wandering in one of my local woodlands, looking for but not spotting any elfcup fungi, when I found the main path blocked by a fallen tree. Other fungi species seemed also to be absent, bird sounds were minimal, and, as the trees were mostly deciduous, there were no leaves remaining on the branches to check for insects or mines. There was nothing for it but to get down and dirty in the leaf litter. And I’m very glad I did, as I very quickly found something I’d never seen before.

When I got home and found myself unable to identify the creature by googling, I posted my short video clip on social media, asking for help. Almost immediately, Geoff, an expert in fly larvae, popped up with an identification and this very informative snippet:

Another denizen of winter leaf litter is the tiny fly Lonchoptera (Spear-winged flies). The minute larvae feed on microbes found in the biofilm that coats decaying, damp leaves. Measuring just 3 mm in length, they require a keen eye to spot.

250107 Lonchoptera larva

You can read more about the tiny flies of the genus Lonchoptera and see images of some of the species on the iNaturalistUK web page here.

68!

07 Thursday Nov 2024

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects

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British hoverflies, Epistrophe grossulariae, Epistrophe grossulariae larvae, fly larvae, hoverfly larvae, larvae on Sycamore leaves, leaf fossicking, Syrphus species, Syrphus species larvae

68! That’s the number of hoverfly larvae I found when turning over Sycamore leaves in a damp shady spot in one of my local parks last week. And they were all plump and well grown so had obviously been feasting well on aphids. (I have noticed during my leaf fossicking this year that, while insect numbers overall have been well down on previous years, the numbers of aphid seem about usual, which means that those creatures feeding on aphids seem also to have been thriving.)

241107 Epistrophe grossulariae

The hoverfly larvae were of only two types, the Epistrophe grossulariae shown above (these larvae are usually green but turn an orange-brown colour in the autumn, an effective camouflage tactic – hence the two colour variations shown here), and those from the various Syrphus species shown below (it’s not possible to be more specific as to the exact identification of these larvae).

241107 syrphus sp

F is for Firecrest

11 Monday Dec 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Firecrest, fly larvae, Lauxaniidae, Lauxaniidae larva

Initially, the letter F was going to be for flies then two fabulous little birds popped up last Tuesday and stole the show (though there were also flies that day). The birds were two Firecrests, probably those first discovered at this location in early November and not seen since, despite me and other birders looking for them. The site has quite dense vegetation so little birds like these can easily disappear.

231208 firecrest

And the flies? Well, I had spent about 20 minutes walking through the area, had stood at various spots searching for movement in the trees and bushes, but not seen any sign of the Firecrests. So, as this is an area with lots of lovely deciduous trees, I decided to ferret through the leaf litter for any nice invertebrates. I’d turned over about 50 soggy, muddyish leaves before I had some success, finding these two Lauxaniidae fly larvae. I’d just finished taking some photos of them when I heard a special little peeping and there were the Firecrests.

231208 Lauxaniidae

Leafmines: Agromyza anthracina

30 Monday May 2022

Posted by sconzani in nature

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Agromyza anthracina, fly larvae, fly leafmines, leafmines, leafmines on Nettles

We’ve had a break from leafmines for a while but now the leaves are once again green and lush, it’s time to check them for signs of the mines of munching moth and fly and beetle larvae.

220530 Agromyza anthracina (2)

Today’s example is a new one for me: Agromyza anthracina, a fly whose larvae thrive on Nettles. It’s common in England and, though there aren’t many Welsh records, it seems that’s because it’s under-recorded rather than rare. Since a Twitter friend found mines on Nettles in a local park last week, I’ve found mines in several locations on my walks.

220530 Agromyza anthracina (1)

I’ve lightened these images a lot to try to show more clearly the details of the mines: some are quite intestinal in design and the frass in the galleries is like a child’s scribble pattern.