Sunshine continues

This shot of a male Andrena sp. solitary bee shows the triangle of three extra 'eyes' that lie between the two main eyes. These ocelli are very sensitive to rapid changes in light, and are used to detect movement, whereas the main eyes are slower and are used for navigation and object recognition:

Larger Ichneumonids are now a fairly regular sighting along the hedgerows. They fly slowly under leaves looking for their host caterpillars:

The Snipe Fly Rhagio scolopacea is known as the 'Downlooker' due to its more usual habit of hanging vertically, facing downwards waiting for prey to fly past. This is a male:

Hoverflies are some of our most handsome (and useful! - they pollinate flowers, trees and crops) insects. This is a male Leucozona lucorum:

Sawflies - closely related to wasps and bees - remain shrouded in mystery. They are strictly vegetarian as larvae (indeed some are considered to be crop pests), but largely carnivorous as adults. The larvae closely resemble the caterpillars of moths and butterflies, but many remain unidentified. The existing reference documentation is very old, and I feel that these must be the next area for extensive research and documentation. Note: the ocelli are also visible on this one that I found wandering over Bramble:

Most Sawflies are tied to a particular plant or family of plants, so I'd bet on this one being a Bramble feeder.

A bright blue Chrysomelid beetle, also wandering over Bramble:

The only blue Chrysomelid that I'm aware of is dependent on Willow, which is close by, so maybe it was just on holiday.

A few moths are still coming to light, despite the cold evenings. This is May Highflyer - Hydriomena impluviata:

Mixed bag

This is the fourth (and final, I think) of the Damselfly species on my local patch. Emerald Damselfly - Lestes sponsa, a male.



The Downlooker Fly - Rhagio scolopacea - is one of the Snipe Flies. They adopt this characteristic position on leaves, bark or plant stems, leaping to catch passing insects and returning to their perch to consume their prey.


I rather suspect that micromoths are widely overlooked. Most of the 'flies' or 'midges' seen fluttering around on verges and hedges are, in fact, micromoths. They can be detected in flight by their erratic, sometimes spiraling, trajectory. The instant they land they become virtually invisible, either blending into the background or hiding under leaves. Most of the shots I get of them come from observing the flight pattern and keeping them firmly in sight until they land.

This is Ancylis badiana, which has two generations per year:


This large (20mm) Ichneumonid is readily recognisable from the white-tipped antennae and ruby-red abdomen. They land on leaves and very quickly run to the underside in search of caterpillars to parasitise.


The very long proboscis of the dance-fly Empis stercorea has multiple uses. Here it is being used to suck up nectar from Cow Parsley flowers.



Yet another new moth species for me: Coxcomb Prominent - Ptilodon capucina. You can just imagine how well this would be camouflaged against bark or dry leaves.