Wednesday 9 August 2017

Time Flies


TIME - It's been a while since my last posting, almost 6 months!, so I guess it's about TIME for another one?
This year, with regards to 'nature watching'  I've had a bit of a change in direction..not so many birding outings  but more outings focused on BUGS, or insects as the more serious like to say!
It's such a large and diverse subject and I've become totally hooked, and it's all TIME consuming...I can go out for a few hours 'bugging' and easily come home with 300+ images on the memory card, it then takes a few days (TIME) to sort through them and ID what I've happily snapped away at! 
Subjects can range from the larger, more obvious, Damsel/Dragon Flies down to the small and barely noticeable leaf and plant hoppers. I find them all fascinating and beautiful.

Anyway, that's enough waffle...here's a few FLIES 


 Bluebottle  Calliphora vicina    Very familiar!


Thick-Headed Fly  Sicus ferrugineus   a parasitoid of bumblebees.


Broad Centurion  Chloroyia formosa   One of the many Soldierflies which are named after their brightly coloured 'uniforms', this is a green and bronze male, the female is green and blue.


A Picture-Winged Fly  Tephritis neesii   (about 4mm long)  Belonging to a group of flies that wave their strikingly patterned wings around, semaphore style, to claim territory or attract a mate.


 A Slender-footed Robberfly  Leptarthrus brevirostris   An insect eating fly, this one is enjoying a Mirid Bug for it's lunch.


Greenbottle  Lucilia sericata   Another familiar fly!


 A Fever Fly  Dilophus febrilis   One of the St. Mark's Flies seen in early spring often flying in large swarms, and typically with their legs dangling. This is a female, the male has large bulbous eyes.


Lesser Housefly  Fannia lustrator   Another regular visitor to 'our world'   (note the damaged eye)


 These last two are from the family of Tachinidae flies (Parasitic Flies) the larvae of these flies are parasitoids of other insects especially the caterpillars of butterflies and moths.


 Eriothrix rufomaculata 



 Tachina fera


Hopefully my next post won't be so long in coming but, you know what they say....TIME FLIES...[;o)

8 comments:

ADRIAN said...

It's been too long. Superb quality shots. I'm turning into a Greenbottle.

FOREST SNAPPER said...

Well worth waiting for too Trevor, great set of images.

The Herald said...

Thanks Adrian, I'll try not to leave it so long in future!
A good blackberry crop this year then?...[;o)

Peter, thank you...[;o)

Douglas Mcfarlane said...

Might have been a long time but you've come back with some cracking images.
I really struggled with trying to identify insects, it might just be me but I swear those who compile id guides make it deliberately hard to identify.

Roy Norris said...

Your superb professional images are always worth waiting for Trevor.
Insects - Its a different and vast discipline all of its own.
Yes, I know what you mean about sorting through photos, it takes for ever.

The Herald said...

Douglas, Roy Sorry for the late reply...you know how it is....TIME FLIES!...[;o)


Thanks Douglas, I'm getting there with the id's, there's a few that I can recognise straight off now!
I know what you mean about it being difficult trying to sort things out...it's even harder when certain specimens, that look the same, are split into something different!...it's all good fun though!!...[;o)

Thank you Roy, that's very kind...not too sure about the professional bit though?
You're right, it's a big subject to cover but I'm enjoying my time 'with the insects'...and I don't have to travel too far to find them!...[;o)

Gregg Dunne said...

Incredible you can take photos, this close! They are so clear and detailed, love checking out your blog! Keep up the posts!
Gregg

The Herald said...

Gregg, thank you. Thanks for visiting and I'm pleased that you found the images interesting.
Now that we're approaching the end of the year and the 'bug season' is slowing down a bit, I hope to catch up on the backlog of images, hopefully the posts should become a tad more regular!....[;o)