Another Tachinid Fly

A male Voria ruralis (Diptera: Tachinidae).  Identified using the key of Belshaw, 1993.

Specimen taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2014-08-31.

Tachinid Fly

A female Thecocarcelia acutangulata (Diptera: Tachinidae).  Identified using Chris Raper and Matt Smith's v5c, 2014 update of Belshaw's key that was distributed at their Tachinid Workshop in February of this year

Note the large Carcelia-sized eyes (which are hairless in this species) and the spike-like ovipositor.  This species parasitizes larvae of the Essex skipper butterfly Thymelicus lineola.  It was first detected in Britain in the mid 1980's and has now been found throughout the southeast of England.

Specimen taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2014-08-31.

Woody Nightshade

Flowers of woody nightshade (Solanum dulcamara).

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-09-03.

Conopid Fly

A female Thecophora sp, probably Thecophora atra (Diptera: Conopidae).  It was hovering around some small black Halictid bees (possibly a Lassioglossum sp) and seemed to be following them.

Specimen taken in the field to the west of Chazey Wood, ner Caversham, UK, on 2014-08-31.

Bug Nymph

A shield bug nymph shedding its old skin: probably Pentatoma rufipes (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae).

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-09-03.