Blue-Winged Fly

I went out on my walk round the lakes today not expecting many insects, it being nearly November, but the sun came out and I managed to get photographs of several species I hadn't seen before. This tiny fly caught my eye because of the irridescent blue colour of its wings.  It is probably Acletoxenus formosus, a Drosophilid fly (Diptera: Drosophilidae).

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-10-25.

Fever Fly

A male fever fly, Dilophus febrilis (Diptera: Bibionidae).  The females have much smaller eyes and their wings have a smokey look.  See here for some photos of a female I took only a few days later without realizing it was the same species.

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-08-30.

Greenish-Grey Flies with Red Eyes

In the past few months I have seen quite a lot of flies like this but I have not been able to identify them with any confidence.  I think they are probably Muscid flies, possibly Helina sp. (Diptera: Muscidae), based on comparison with photos such as this and this.

The above photo shows that there is a little spine in the centre of the leading edge of each wing.

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-10-04.

Snipe Fly

A snipe fly Chrysopilus cristatus (Diptera: Rhagionidae).  See here for pictures of another species of snipe fly.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-07-10.

Flies on Agrimony

[Note added 2009-12-17: I now think these are probably Phasia obesa, (Diptera: Tachinidae).  This species is rather small and lacks the long spines on the abdomen that Tachinid flies usually have.  See photos by Chris Raper here, here, here and here.]

From a couple of weeks ago, one of two flies I noticed on agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria) seed heads.  I think they were Muscid flies (Diptera: Muscidae) because of the pattern of veins on the wings shown in one of the photos below.  The following photo shows the same individual as above.

And the following two photos show the second individual which was on another seed head.

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-10-04.