www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Can anyone help me ID these Flies.

Gruditch

Hi Gruditch.....they are real crackers ,never seen anything like them before.....I would however say they are a Tachinid species....probably Gymnosoma........maybe. Hope that helps anyway Cheers IAC.

Its me again.....found some more info .Gymnosoma Rotundatum.......very certain of this. ...............Google it for pic.
Cheers again IAC.

Cheers IAC, Gymnosoma Rotundatum it is, I had just looked all through the fly picks on WAB with no luck.

Gruditch

Gruditch,

Great pics of a great fly! Gymnosoma Rotundatum are parasites of certain species of Shield Bugs. Can I ask where the pics were taken (rough area - no need to give the exact site).

Many thanks indeed,

Felix.

Hi Felix, I took the pic at Farley Mount, Hampshire. I've obviously never seen these before, are they quite rare

Gruditch

Hi Gruditch,

In answer to your question: yes they are really!!

Gymnosoma rotundatum is known from about 10 - 12 sites in the south east, and where it does occur it can be fairly numerous. However, it is currently thought to be restricted to Surrey and Sussex, although Hampshire and Kent do have areas of suitable habitat, and there have been one or two records (although not as far as I am aware from Farley Mount).

In short, you may have stumbled across a fairly significant find!!!

The chances of mis-identification are low as it is a very distinctive insect.

I shall do some research and follow this up and let you know.

Cracking find..!

All the best,

Felix.

Nice one Gary - trust you to come up with something a bit special!
Perhaps someone can ID this beautiful creature that frightened off a Common Blue as I set up the tripod.
Is it a wasp?



Roger

That belongs most probably to the family Tenthredinidae (Hymenoptera).

Hi Rodger, it is a Privet Sawfly (Macrophya punctumalbum)...http://www.gardensafari.net/english/pic ... malbum.htm IAC.

So it is!
What a fascinating group of animals they are, and so colourful.
Thanks for the help.

Roger

Hi Gruditch.

I ran your sighting (and photograph) past an acquaintance of mine who specialises in the Tachinidae. He was pretty excited about it too!

Sadly, it isn't a new county record for Gymnosoma Rotundatum but it is a new record for Farley Mount, and probably the first colony to be found this far west, so it's pretty important; especially (as your photograph suggests) there is a breeding population.

The record can only be taken as tentative however (there are some continental species which look very similar) until such time as a voucher specimen can be taken and a firm identification made from key diagnostic features for rotundum under a microscope.

And all this goes to show that some of the other insect orders can be just as fascinating, beautiful, and exciting as butterflies!!

Felix.

Thanks Felix, I owe you one

Cheers Gruditch

Hope you guys don't mind, but could anyone ID this fly I got a pic of this evening?

Hi Dave still no clue.......try this...http://syrphidae.com/


Cheers IAC ,.........GOOD LUCK!!!

Thanks IAC, I will check that link out.