A visit to Irthlinborough Lakes with the Northants Diptera Group at the beginning of the month produced the hoverflies Anasimyia transfuga and Platycheirus fulviventris in the damp areas adjacent to the lakes. Several craneflies were found, including Tricyphona immaculata, Erioconopa trivialis and Phylidorea ferruginea. The following week we visited Ramsden Corner for the first time. The weather was not promising and the flies were hard to find. Two long-palped craneflies were found: Tipula varipennis and T. vernalis.
We did not have a local field meeting the following weekend as most of the group joined the Dipterists Forum Spring Weekend in Dorset. The hot weather there meant that hoverflies were hard to find but we did manage to see Microdon myrmicae at the RSPB reserve at Arne. Unfortunately, no Microdon species have been recorded in Northants. This weekend coincided with the Bioblitz at Halse Copse, organised by the Northants Biodiversity Records Centre. I made a belated visit during the following week. The temperature had dropped somewhat but was still suitable for finding flies. I did not find anything unusual during my visit but managed to add a few records for the site. These included a male empid fly, Empis bicuspidata, which I have not seen before. There were several species of long-legged fly (Dolichopodidae), including Dolichopus ungulatus, D. plumipes, D. popularis, D. longitarsis, Argyra diaphana and Chrysotus gramineus.
The moth traps at Pitsford continue to provide a steady stream of flies in the by-catch. These inluded the tiny metallic green soldierfly, Microchrysa flavicornis.
