Wed 2010-09-15 
A solitary wasp, probably Rhopalum clavipes (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae). According to this page on German Wikipedia, the abdomen is mainly red only in the females.
Photo taken in The Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-09-10.
Tue 2010-09-14 
Hoverflies Anasimyia lineata (Diptera: Syrphidae) mating in a buttercup (Ranunculus sp). This photo was taken in the dam at the lower end of the large lake. I often see A. lineata here. According to Stubbs and Falk (British Hoverflies, 2nd Edition, 2002) the species "is characteristic of lushly vegetated pools of mesotrophic or eutrophic character where plants such as iris, bulrush, bur-reeds, sweet-grass and willowherbs are present". Well, there are definitely irises, bulrushes and willowherb growing on the dam (I will have to look up bur-reeds and sweet-grass because I don't know what they look like).
Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-05-16.
Mon 2010-09-13 
Conopid fly Sicus ferrugineus (Diptera: Conopidae). Photo taken in The Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-08-01.
A week later, a few hundred feet higher, and a few hundred miles further north, I took this photo of the same species on the edge of the moorland behind Hangingstone, near Guisborough, North Yorkshire, UK (on 2010-08-08).
Sun 2010-09-12 
A female ormyrid wasp, possibly Ormyrus nitidulus = Ormyrus tubulosus (Hymenoptera: Ormyridae). According to this page at the Hedgerowmobile site, there are only 4 species of Ormyridae on the UK checklist. There are some good pictures of O. nititudulus = O.tubulosus by P. Falatico half-way down this page at Alain Ramel's site.
Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-09-08.
Sat 2010-09-11 
What I think is a gatekeeper butterfly, Pyronia tithonus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). The meadow brown (Maniola jurtina) and small heath, Coenonympha pamphilus, are similar and I original thought the above butterfly was a small heath but changed my mind when I noticed the 3 small white spots on the underside of the hind wing).
Photo taken in The Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-07-30.
