Fruit Flies

Got around to pinning and grabbing a shot of the wing patterning on the x2 Tephritis sp. that I beat out of a fallen pine in Martinshaw Wood at the weekend. One I recognised but wanted to double-check, one I wasn't sure of at all and it turns out to be new for me. Photos are not great, I think I might see if there is a newer USB microscope out there with a better resolution.

 

Tephritis formosa

Tephritis neesii - a new one for me

Orange & Black Ticks plus

Another good mothing night in the garden - relatively that is - but I'll come back to that. First up I'm going to post some ticks from the garden and local area, all coincidentally following a bit of an orange and black theme:

Badister bullatus - a flukey tick and shot as it happened to scuttle underneath me and into a paving cervice whilst I had camera in hand.

Bramble Sawfly - found this locally on Tuesday. I thought it was dead in the pot but it made a miraculous recovery just as I was about to throw it out, and so I took some more shots.

 

Neuroctena anilis Tetanocera sp. - another fluke as this flew into the house just as we were sitting down to have dinner this evening. Potted up and photographed soon afterwards.

Right, here's last nights trap results as an interlude.

Total catch 28 of 15sp.
(125W MV 10 of 8sp., 22W/18W Synergetic/CFL combo 18 of 12sp.)

0247  Tinea trinotella  1 (NFY)
0409a  Argyresthia trifasciata  2
0647  Brown House Moth (Hofmannophila pseudospretella)  1 (NFY)
0648  White-shouldered House Moth (Endrosis sarcitrella)  1
0998  Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana)  1
1136  Epinotia immundana  1 (NFY)
1524  Emmelina monodactyla  1
1738  Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata)  2 (NFY)
1776  Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria)  6
1834  Common Pug (Eupithecia vulgata)  3
1883  Yellow-barred Brindle (Acasis viretata)  3 (NFY)
1906  Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)  2
2063  Muslin Moth (Diaphora mendica)  1 (NFY)
2092  Shuttle-shaped Dart (Agrotis puta)  2 (NFY)
2188  Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta)  1

Common Carpet

Yellow-barred Brindle

And here's a load of random recent stuff I've pointed the camera at, all from the garden apart from the procreating beetles ....
 

Salticus scenicus

Garden Spider

Tephritis formosa

Calliphora vicina

Eyeball - no idea what fly this is

 Green Dock Beetles mating all over the place on Monday evening

Life In The Garden 17/08/2011

WARNING - lots of photos follow of things that are not birds or moths. Or plants.

Having access to a digital camera and a wealth of on-line reference images and info, means that in this day and age it is easier than ever to become completely distracted for long periods of time, snap away at anything that moves, and identify it retrospectively. Or string it, depending on how good or bad the references are and your photographic skills ....... please let me know if anything below is more stringy than Rab C Nesbitt's vest.

Anyway, I innocently wandered into the garden on Wednesday morning to see if there were any hoverflies about, or maybe another Tree Bumblebee as last year. Before I knew it a couple of hours had passed, the camera battery was dead and I'd added 322 photos to the SD card. Most of the following are new for the garden and me (at least in the sense of trying to name them).
I'll start with hoverflies, headed up by a new one for me and the garden - newly identified thanks to the book I bought yesterday.

Myathropa florea

Volucella pellucens

Volucella inanis

Next up, true Flies. I only started taking shots of these when I noticed a garden first Mesembrina meridiana (which ironically evaded the camera) and lots of Sarcophaga sp. (which I did photograph but I've left them out this time). I grabbed a few shots of other flies, then realised one or two were different again, and before I knew it I was on a fly mission.

Calliphora vicina

Eriothrix rufomaculata

Tephritis formosa

Thaumatomyia notata?

Pollenia sp.

Neomyia viridescens

Lucilia sp.

Phaonia sp.

Face Fly (Musca autumnalis)

Before I end this overly long and illustrated post, some other bits ..

Viburnum Beetle (Pyrrhalta viburni) - destroying my Viburnum tinus

Common Flower Bug (Anthocoris nemorum)

I think this is Xanthoria parietina - a lichen living on a bit of dead Winged Spindle