Bluebottle Fly

A female Calliphora vomitoria (Diptera: Calliphoridae).

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-06.

Big-Nosed Hoverfly

A female Rhingia campestris (Diptera: Syrphidae).

Specimen take in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2014-04-13.

Sawfly

A Dolerus sp (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae).  I caught this specimen and identified it the proper way using my new stereo microscope and Adam Wright's 1990 key to the genera of British sawflies.

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-06.

Moth

A small grey moth, probably Perittia obscurepunctella (Lepidoptera: Elachistidae).  The adults of this species fly in April and May, and the larvae mine the leaves of honesuckle (Lonicera sp).

Specimen taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-11

Strange Plant

I first noticed this strange Arum-like plant a few years ago.  It was growing on the banks of the the top lake just below the pile of boulders that is known as the Grotto.  I had some difficulty in identifying it as it was obviously not a native to the UK.  I eventually found it mentioned in this post on the Whiteknights Biodiversity blog at Reading University as Lysichiton americanus, otherwise known as western or yellow skunk cabbage because of its smell (though I didn't notice an particularly strong smell while taking these photos).  It is a member of the Aracea, the Arum family.

This is a close-up of the tiny flowers:

Photos taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-04-06.