Bouncing Crane Fly

A few days ago I saw this crane fly 'bouncing' along a path in the Wilderness.  It had rained heavily the previous day and the path was soft and muddy.  The fly would repeatedly touch down in the mud, immediately fly up a few centimetres and then drop down, repeating this over and over again.  I presume it was laying eggs in the mud.  Every now and again it would stop and rest on the path a few seconds, before starting off 'bouncing' again.

A female Nephrotoma sp (Diptera: Tipulidae).

Photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-08-19.

Tephritid Fly

 

A female Tephritid fly, probably Terellia serratulae (Diptera: Tephritidae) on a thistle.

Terellia longicauda is very similar but in the female the oviscapus is as long as the abdomen (the ovipositor itself is retracted into the abdomen).  Terellia ruficauda is also similar but has dark markings on its wings.

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-08-19.

Soldier Fly

A wasp-mimic soldier fly: a female Stratiomys potamida (Diptera: Stratiomyidae).

Photo taken on the dam at the lower end of the large lake, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-08-19.

Cinnabar Moth

A rather faded cinnabar moth, Tyria jacobaeae (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae).  Normally these are as brightly coloured as the 6-spot burnet moths; this is probably an old specimen but to be old in early May, like this one was, suggests it might have over-wintered as an adult. I don't know how likely this is.

The caterpillars look like this and they were very common on ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) this year.  See here for one fending off an ichneumon wasp.

Photos taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2011-05-04 and 2011-06-26, respectively.

Hoverfly

Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus (Diptera: Syrphidae), a female.

Photo taken in Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2011-08-17.