I snapped this Dark-edged Bee Fly basking in the sunshine earlier in the week. These flies emerge in March and and are very fast fliers, unless you are lucky enough to catch one taking a rest. They lay their eggs in bees nests where the bee fly’s larvae eat the larvae of the bees. The long snout looks menacing, but it is just to take nectar from flowers. I didn’t see any at all last year as early Spring here was so miserable, so this one is appreciated!
A couple of colourful flies around the pond. The Broad Centurion was fished out of the pond - these seem to like to go into water, but don’t swim too well. This is a male with a green body and blue abdomen. Poecilobothrus nobilitatus is more at home around water, able to land on the surface and then take off again, rather than drown. This is also the male, as the female lacks the black and white wing-tips. It was a little camera shy, so hopefully I’ll be able to get a better photo sometime.
This is a new fly for the garden, from the genus Phaonia. These are medium-sized flies with a yellow abdomen, black body and bulge in the fore edge of the wing. They can be seen from early Spring through to November, with their larvae overwintering in rotting vegetation. Identification at species level is based on details of bristles on the legs and thorax, but I believe this one is P. subventa.
Here are a couple more leaf mines, this time both are from flies. Phytomyza angelicastri is a leaf-miner found on wild angelica and also, as in this case, on Ground Elder. This is the first mine I’ve noticed here on Ground Elder, and is a new species for the garden. The similar-looking mine (but more “random” in direction) on Aquilegia (Columbine) is from Phytomyza minuscula. Many of these miners are very specific which leaves they will go for.
This red and metallic-green Centurion fly got trapped inside the house. Called the Twin-Spot Centurion (Sargus bipunctatus) because if the two white spots on the front of its face, it is a late-flying member of this fly family, typically seen sunbathing on vegetation from September through to November.
This boldly patterned black & grey fly is a from a family known as root maggot flies. Some species do have larvae that eat vegetable roots, but this one is believed to be a klepto-parasite laying its eggs in the nests of mason wasps, where they feed upon the larder the wasp leaves for its own young.
Adult Yellow Dung Flies son’t eat dung, they just lay their eggs there, where their larva eat other insect larvae. The adult too are carnivorous. This yellow-coloured, male dung fly was eating a smaller fly it had caught.
#127 Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
My first new species for a while, mainly due to my being busy and not spending enough time outside. This leaf mine contains the larva of a small fly, Phytomyza ilicis; the only UK leaf mine found on European Holly.
#914 Holly Leaf-miner (Phytomyza ilicis)
I photographed this fly feeding on mint flowers in the garden. With the yellow/black bands on the abdomen and boldly striped thorax, I believe it is Locust Blow Fly (Stomorhina lunata). This species is a visitor from the continent, where it is a predator of the egg pods of locusts (but ,they think, it doesn’t predate any UK grasshopper species). Not sure about its status in Gloucestershire, but although once rare in UK this fly has been turning up more frequently in recent years.
This tiny fly, fished out of the swimming pool this evening, is a fruit fly, Anomoia purmunda. The intricate wing pattern is distinctive for this species, whose eggs are laid on hawthorns and larvae eat the berries.
Looking superficially like a squat, little hoverfly, this male soldier fly is new for the garden. It is supposed to be found in damp places and near ponds, so it’s fitting that I rescued it from the paddling pool, where it was probably trying to cool off.
This chubby fly with pale spotted dark wings is signal fly, Platystoma seminationis. It comes to flowers, but in this case was walking slowly over the leaves of a sunflower plant.
This fly is Empis tessellata (#852), a “dagger” fly and the largest in its genus. It is larger and has different leg colour from its nearest relatives. Dagger flies feed on nectar, but also catch other insects using their long pointed proboscis (not visible in this photo). Mating involves the male giving a gift of dead prey to the female.
St Marks Fly (Bibio marci), sometimes called Hawthorn Fly, appears around St Mark’s Day (25th April) most years, and can be seen through to June. With its smoky grey wings, this is a female. These flies often appear in large numbers, especially around woodland edges, but only get them occasionally in the garden.
This is my first “dagger fly” found in the garden; so-named because of its long beak. These come for nectar, as in this case on the flowers of a bramble, but are also predators. Courtship consists of the males offering prey to females, with the most favoured prey getting the girl. There are a few species, but this one with it’s reddish coloured legs (including the thighs) is I believe one of the commoner ones.
#794 Empis opaca
A proper Spring day brought our more insects, including this Dark-edged Bee Fly that was sunbathing on the fence, just next to the insect hotel. These flies are parasites of solitary bees, laying their eggs in the nests pf solitary mining and mason bees. They appear in the spring at the same time as the first mining bees. Usually bee flies are quite difficult to photograph as they fly really fast, but it was still quite cold at lunchtime when I saw this one, so it did not seem too bothered by me getting up close with my phone to get a photo.
#443 Dark-edged Bee Fly (Bombylius major)
These tiny fruit flies appeared on a coconut shell I hung out for the birds. When I was a kid we sometimes put these out for the blue tits, but it seems “Generation Alpha” garden birds prefer sunflower hearts and fat balls, as the coconut is not getting much interest. Anyhow checking the flies, they are Spotted Wing Drosophila (Drosophila melanogaster), which is an Asian species that was first recording only in UK in 2012. These are not becoming (yet another) imported garden pest as these fruit flies do not just go for rotten or blemished fruit, but the female cuts into health fruit to lay its eggs, with the larvae then eating the fruit from the inside. The flies go for cultivated soft fruits, but can also be found in wild hedgerow blackberries and sloes. I tend to think that my fruit flies probably came from the coconut itself, but maybe not and they are from an established wild population.
#713 Spotted Wing Drosophila (Drosophila melanogaster)
I’d never realised how bristly flies can be. This black and orange Tachina fera caught sunning itself on the wall has some impressive bristles. This Tachanid fly is a parasitoid, it’s larvae eating moth caterpillars from the inside. I suppose the bristles are sensory organs, maybe to give some early warning if a spider is coming up close behind? The spider here is a new genus for the garden, Tetragnatha, but as quite often with spiders it’s hard to get down to an individual species as there are very similar species, which all vary considerably in colour. These are orb-weaver spiders that often stretch out lengthwise, with their long legs in front, to hide on plant stems.
I risked life and limb hanging out of my upstairs window to snap this blood-sucking horsefly that landed on the outside of the glass. It is a Band-Eyed Brown Horsefly (Tabanus bromius), in this case a female with its rather amazingly patterned eyes. You have to wonder if this banding on the eye serves any purpose, or is just decorative. It’s the female horseflies that bite, in order to get blood. Usually they go for cows or horses, but sometimes also people. Band-eyed Brown Horsefly is common in the southern part of UK, but rarely found North of the Midlands.
This fly is easily recognised by its wings which are smoky black from about half way, with (in the male) distinctive white tips. They are usually found close to water, where they feed by catching small freshwater crustaceans and mosquito larvae from the surface. They have a complex courtship dance involving the male waving his wings at the female (hence the “semaphore” name) and then hovering in front of her, before embarking on an aerial display flight.
Passionate about nature, based in Gloucestershire UK; this site is about creating a wildlife friendly family garden and exploring the diversity of animal & plant species that share it with us.
As a nature lover and wildlife gardener I started wondering about the biodiversity in my backyard and just how many species from plants to insects to birds to mammals might live in or visit it.
Much of the wildlife in my small, village garden has been present right under my nose for years without my really appreciating it, so on the way I am learning a lot about different species and how to make a wildlife-friendly environment for them; also getting engaged more in conservation activities around Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and the Cotswolds.
My garden species tally started from zero on June 1st 2018, the target was 1000 species, which I eventually hit in June 2024. But there’s still plenty to see and learn about.
I'm very interested in your comments & advice: whether it's about the blog, some help with identification or just how to make my own little Eden better for wildlife. So please leave a comment or drop me a line if you feel like it!
Graham Tompsett
microedenproject@gmail.com
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