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Hoverfly, Melanostoma scalare, female, on Cow Parsley, Anthriscus sylvestris.
Orpington Field Club outing to Darrick Wood on 21 April 2012. |
The Darrick Wood trip was supposed to be partly about butterflies, but it was too cold for them and only one was spotted, apparently one of the Whites. One of us did see one larger creature, a rat, and at one point we passed a large badger sett. But there weren't many invertebrates. I saw a bumblebee, some Wolf Spiders, and at one point a whole swarm of small black flies which looked to be a Bibio species. This fly, above, I managed to photograph; it's a small early Hoverfly. This photo also shows some nice detail of Cow Parsley flowers.
I also got a quick snap of this, a close relative of the true Craneflies:
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| Limonid Cranefly, Limonia nubeculosa. Darrick Wood, 21 April 2012. |
I caught its movement from the corner of my eye as it flew past, and was able to spot where it landed. The true Craneflies, the Tipulidae, sit with their wings outspread.
So, not much of a haul this time!
We Americans ought to look more closely when we see a field or the edge of a road with lots of Queen Anne' Lace, which is what it usually is called here.
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