April 2015

Since my last post I have received an earlier record of a hoverfly in Northants. On 2nd January 2015, Tim Newton found a hoverfly on his window which he correctly identified as Scaeva silenitica. We do not get many records of this species so it was a realyy remarkable find.

The warm weather in April has been bringing out the hoverflies, although I have not seen many species yet. There are loads of Eristalis pertinax about and there have been some Epistrophe eligans. The first record of this latter species came from Stuart Baker on 16th April at Southfield Farm Marsh. Graham Warnes found Melangyna quadrimaculata, another species with few records. Yesterday at Pitsford Reserve I found Helophilus hybridus and Melangyna cincta as well as a few very common species.

Earlier this week Bob Bullock sent me a photo of a blowfly he had seen at Pitsford in the Walgrave arm.  This is Cynomya mortuorum, a spectacular species with its metallic blue body and bright yellow face and jowls. We get few records of it although it is very distinctive. If you come across any recently dead animals it is worth looking round for this species. Bob said that there was a dead shrew nearby. Here is Bob's photo.

(C) Bob Bullock 2015