Clevedon Wildlife

 Saturday was my first opportunity to join the Devon Fly Group on a field visit. I arrived at Lower Sharpham Barton Farm ,a wilding site near Totnes, via a lift from local dipterist Bob Fleetwood, The morning was spent following a track down to the river area and for myself, a look at the edge of a small woodland. Here group member Andrew pointed out a couple of Brachypoda hoverflies around a tree with an almost invisible sap run. A new species group for me.  These brown hoverflies don't really resemble any others but I wasn't able to get a photo in the field.  Identification relies on things such as the shape of a small pit on the inside of antennal segment 3 so I had to examine one under a microscope to confirm that this was Brachypoda scutellaris. Brachypoda scutellaris male Kidney shaped antennal pit I thought that this would surely be the highlight of the day but I was very much mistaken. As I walked back up the track for lunch I noticed a tiny hoverfly in a celandin...

 I am planning to do a few trips to new areas in the hope of catching different species from those in the South West. The first of these was to Poole where I could also catch up with an old school friend and entomologist. As the Premier Inn was booked I decided to forge ahead despite a poorish weather forecast. The first day was better weatherwise than suggested but not much seemed to be flying. Walking around the Lytchett Bay reserve I managed to see a few Drone flies and caught just 3 other flies. Two of these were new for the year, my first convincing Hairy-eyed Flower Fly (Syrphus torvus) and even better a Neoascia meticulosa (Yellow-kneed Fen Fly).  Yellow-kneed Fen Fly This flew into my net while I was catching a different fly ! They are tricky to identify as the yellow knees don't always stand out and you have to look at an area of chitin on the underside of the thorax as well as measuring the proportions of one antennal segment. Not one you can do typically in the fiel...

  The weather continued to be a hindrance until yesterday and then brightened considerably. I decided to try a local wood, famous for its bluebells, but concentrate rather on the large patches of Ramsons (AKA wild garlic) that were just starting to flower. I was very successful in finding the hoped for Ramson Hoverfly (Portivenia maculata). This looks very different from the typical yellow and black stripy fly we all grew up imagining as the archetype hoverfly. In fact, it much more closely resembles a house fly type with its chequered grey pattern. Ramson Hoverfly ( 3 pics) All the ones I saw today were males. I also managed to catch a couple of other species that were new for the year, A Common Copperback (Ferdinandea cuprea ) and a Common Dainty ( Baccha elongata ) neither of which I photographed. The second species was present the next day at Watercress Farm however when I managed a hasty photo or two:  Common Dainty Hoverfly Along with a few common garden species my year ...

 It has turned cold and windy again which has made life difficult for the flies and prevented me doing much. Last week I had a planned visit to Scotland to see family. This had been postponed earlier and the later date had me researching on iRecord and asking contacts where to go for a couple of species I would not get locally. Unfortunately the weather was against me and apart from a couple of Bumblebees I barely saw a flying insect during my stay. Now back down South there appears to be a slight improvement but still not exactly warm. However I have managed to turn up a couple of common Syrphus species, identified via the microscope, and photographed this indeterminate one in the garden today.                                                             Syrphus species The year list has continued to grow slowly with a couple of Long-...

 To reach my aim of 100 species I am clearly going to have to see quite a few that will be new for me. Today I achieved the first of these, though I have to say I didn't notice at the time. Sweeping and searching along a Blackthorn hedge at Weston Moor I couldn't decide on the species for an apparent Eristalis hovering in front of me. Thinking that I must still be very poor at these I took it home and was delighted when I discovered that it was a Greater Spring Blacklet (Cheilosia grossa). I used a bit of CO2 to slow it down, popped it into my lightbox and fired of a few photos as it woke up. Cheilosia grossa female I had noticed what looked like Spear Thistle near the hedge so this was presumably the source  of this individual Back in the garden I was surprised to see a Tiger Marsh hoverfly as it seemed too early but then noticed that a second person had reported one today on the UK hoverflies Facebook group. I am very aware that this will probably be the species that I see m...

 Continued poor weather for insects have held up my plans and ambitions for the 100 hoverfly attempt but a new one at last appeared in the garden. This was a Platycheirus, which are notoriously difficult to identify so I was pleased to actually catch it as it shot through a patch of Vinca flowers. Under the microscope I was able to see the critical features and then tried to get allternative photos rather than my usual Phone held to eyepiece variety. This involved various attempts to use a steady light or a hand held flash.     White-footed Sedgesitter Again but with flash The second shot shows the silvery, rather than yellow, abdominal markings that together with two leg features identify this male as the common P. albimanus (AKA White-footed Hoverfly in some sources) I spent ages trying to get reasonable photos of the key features and am aware of how much room for improvement there is Tangled hairs on the front femur show up nicely here         ...