Camilla atrimana

Plumose arista with long rays above and very short rays below, crossed P bristles and a spine on the ventral side of the fore femur should get you to Camillidae. Only about 5 species on the British list. This one shows a pointed apical section of the wing which suggests C.atrimana. C.acutipennis looks to be lumped with C.atrimana. Caught in Somerset at Crook Peak on 6/9/18

Camilla atrimana

Camilla atrimana

Camilla atrimana

Campsicnemus curvipes

Uniserial acrosticals, dorsal arista, frons narrowing towards the antennae and then widening below are some of the signs to identify Campsicnemus.

Campsicnemus curvipes

Campsicnemus curvipes

Campsicnemus curvipes

Cystiphora sonchi

This gall was found on a basal rosette of Sonchus in a coastal dune at Wall Common, Somerset. The galls are very distinctive and examining through the microscope I could see the little diptera larvae.

Cystiphora sonchi larva

Cystiphora sonchi gall

Tachypeza nubila

Found at night scuttling around on tree trunks and reluctant to fly. A member of the hybotidae family this I believe is Tachypeza nubila.

Tachypeza nubila

Aulagromyza hendeliana?

Couldn't get to species level with certainty as this was a female but it seemed to key out quite well for Aulagromyza hendeliana. Lack of photographic material of the adult also hampered a certain conclusive ID. The wing venation, size (2.75mm), mesonotum colour and yellow knees were useful pointers in this case.

Sarcophaga carnaria?

Literature is not easy to get hold of for Sarcophagidae. S.carnaria is one of the more common of the group which I believe is photographed here.

Presumed Chrysocharis pentheus

On 30th August 2014 I found leaf mines on Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) that had several diptera mines resembling those caused by Liriomyza eupatorii. I took one home that was still vacated in an attempt to rear and photograph but instead found that the larva was parasitised by what appears to be Chrysocharis pentheus. Little is known about these insects and the distribution is also unclear although they are said to be found in the UK.

Presumed Chrysocharis pentheus

Diptera mine on Hemp Agrimony

Tipula oleracea

This is another crane fly that turned up around the moth trap this morning. Feeling confident I thought I'd have a go at ID'ing it. Again it turned out to be a tipula having 13 antennal segments, long palpi especially the last segment and vein Sc ending in R. Shown in one of the pictures below is a view of the underside of the head showing the narrowest distance between the eyes being equal to the distance of the antennae base showing it to be the species Tipula oleracea. On other tipula's this distance is much greater.

Tipula oleracea

Tipula oleracea

Tipula lateralis

Tipula lateralis is a common crane fly but how many of us have taken the time to identify one down to species level eliminating all other candidates? I was faced with one in the moth trap this morning and set about confirming it's identity. The first step is to confirm the tipulinae group: This can be confirmed by wing vein Sc ending in R, long palpi, spurs on tibiae and 13 segments on the antennae. Tipula's are then confirmed by wing venation and body markings.

Tipula lateralis

Tipula lateralis

Tipula lateralis

Tipula lateralis

Tachina grossa

Very impressed with this diptera. I thought it was a chafer at first but it turned out to be Tachina grossa

Tachina grossa

Volucella zonaria

My first was in the garden which managed to escape a photo call after being trapped in the garden shed but yesterday I found another in a nearby park.

Volucella zonaria

Ctenophora ornata

This impressive crane fly was found in several moth traps in the New Forest in July.

Ctenophora ornata

Dark Giant Horsefly Tabanus sudeticus

This huge diptera flew into the moth trap one night whilst trapping in Somerset. Looks very like Dark Giant Horsefly Tabanus sudeticus.

Dark Giant Horsefly Tabanus sudeticus

Dioctria rufipes

It took a little while to figure out the ID of this. Clinched in the end by looking through my collection of photos from last year.

Dioctria rufipes

Solieria sp. pacifica?

After some trouble this diptera eventually got narrowed down to a Solieria sp. The most likely is the Solieria pacifica.
Looking at "Tachinid Flies" by Robert Belshaw it would seem that these flies are indistinguishable as females and with difficulty in the males. S.pacifica is separated by facial bristles and tarsal claws. I think this is a female so ID perhaps not achievable.

Solieria pacifica?

Solieria pacifica?

Didea fasciata

A new hoverfly Didea fasciata found in the garden on 26th May. There was also a Baccha elongata but sadly I didn't have my camera with me.

Didea fasciata

Anthomyiidae sp

Found in my garden on 3rd May 2014 this diptera looked like it was worth pursuing for an ID. I used the wing venation to get to family level which I concluded was Anthomyiidae. With around 240+ species in this family and no keys available it proved too tricky in the end but there was a close match with Pegomya testacea.

Possible Pegomya testacea

Sawfly Arge nigripes

Found this little insect on the door frame of my house yesterday 26th April and still present today. With the birding quiet I decided to spend some time trying to identify it. My conclusion was Arge nigripes. The adult of this species is on the wing in April and May whereas the similar Arge berberidis and Arge gracilicornis are much later. This larval foodplant is Rose (rosa). There are 13 species of Arge in the UK: berberidis, ciliaris, cyanocrocea, enodis, expansa, fuscipes, gracilicornis, melanochra, metallica, nigripes, ochropus, pagana, rustica.

Arge nigripes

Arge nigripes

Myathropa florea

Despite being called a common species in the book I had my first record of the year for Myathropa florea. A rather nice hoverfly

Myathropa florea

Chrysotoxum elegans

A new hoverfly for me today when I discovered 2 Chrysotoxum elegans amongst Sea Aster Aster tripolium which is starting to come into flower in Sand Bay marsh.

Chrysotoxum elegans