Moth

A small metallic moth, an Eriocrania sp, probably Eriocrania subpurpurella (Lepidoptera: Eriocraniidae).  This was one of several that were flying around some bushes in a clearing near an oak tree (oak being the host plant for the larvae of E. subpurpurella).

I took two specimens home with me.  One had lots of purple dots on its wings (this must be the fastuosella form mentioned and illustrated here):

And the other had only one or two purple spots (this is the common form):

First photo and specimens taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-06.

Hoverfly

A female Eristalis pertinax (Diptera: Syrphidae). See here for the identifying features.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-05.

Butterfly

A comma butterfly, Polygonia c-album (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).

Specimen taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2014-03-30.

Lichen

A Lecanora sp lichen, probably Lecanora chlarotea growing on an ash twig (Fraxinus sp).

This is a close-up:

Specimen taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2014-03-30.

Parasite Wasp from Leaf Mine

A parasite wasp that I found in a plastic tub containing a dock leaf with a leaf mine that had been left for a few months.  The wasp was particularly fragile and lost one of its legs and one of its antennae when I handled it (and the other antenna may have originally been longer than shown here).  I am not sure whether it is an ichneumon or a braconid wasp.

The wasp had apparently hatched out of one of the fly puparia that had been opened at one end:

Here is a close-up of the head of the wasp

And here is a side view of the body and legs:

The leaf mine that this hatched from was originally collected in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2013-06-23.