Saturday
Apr232011

Prices on Amazon

This is an interesting article on the prices of books on Amazon.

Saturday
Apr232011

Dung Fly

An orange dung fly with particularly long spines on its front legs: probably Norellia spinimanum (Diptera: Scathophagidae).  See also here.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-04-16.

Friday
Apr222011

Lily Beetle

A scarlet lily beetle, Lilioceris lilii (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).  Similar, at first glance, to the black-headed cardinal beetle, Pyrochroa coccinea.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-04-16.

Thursday
Apr212011

Bibionid Flies

:

A female Bibio anglicus (Diptera: Bibionidae).  As well as the orange thorax, the females have a yellowish abdomen:

The males are all black, as shown in this photo of a mating pair:

Photos taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2011-04-17.

Wednesday
Apr202011

Crane Fly

A rather spectacular crane fly, a female Ctenophora flaveolata (Diptera: Tipulidae). According to Alan E. Stubbs (Provisional Atlas of the long-palped craneflies (Diptera: Tipulinae) of Britain and Ireland, 1992), this is a relatively rare species, it is probably associated with dead wood, and is normally on the wing in May.

Photo taken in Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2011-04-17.