Soldier Fly with Prey

A soldier fly, probably a Dioctria rufipes (Diptera: Asilidae), with its prey.  The characteristic of this species is the combination of reddish front and middle legs with black hind legs.  This particular specimen has lost half of one of its middle legs.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-06-12.

White Slime Mould

From yesterday afternoon: a young, plasmodial form of the slime mould Enteridium lycoperdon.  A little further down the tree trunk were these examples of the later silver-crust stage of the same species:

Photos taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2011-03-31.