Early October

Most of September I was either in France & Germany or down with a heavy cold so I have not much to report.  I have done no field work on flies but have been helping with the Nene Valley Ecology Group's water invertebrate surveys and found several new beetles for me.

Anyway, back to flies. At the beginning of September my garden in Rothwell still held several Tachina fera, visiting marjoram flowers. Marjoram is a must have if you want to attract insects to your garden. I also noted Eristalis tenax, E. Pertinax, E. Arbustorum, Myathropa florea, Syritta pipiens, Eupeodes luniger and Helophilus pendulus hoverflies. Helophilus pendulus is still around the pond in early October.

On warm Autumn days like today one of the best ways to find nectaring insects is to look for some flowering ivy. I shall be searching the hedgerows and wood edges for suitable ivy patches over the next few days. There has been a large emergence of the long-palped cranefly Tipula paludosa and many are coming into the house. Later this month, its close relative Tipula subcunctans should be about.

Whilst trying to shake off my cold, I was able to catch up with identification of some flies that I took earlier this year. The Dipterists Forum held its Spring weekend field meeting in the Rockingham Forest area and I collected quite a few flies that I am still working through. The weather was poor for two of the three days so finding flies was hard work but I did add some new species for me. Titchmarsh Wood, part of the Souther Wood complex turned up Empis nigritarsis and the parasitic fly Lypha dubia.  I still have more to do so am hoping for other new finds.