A little break from moths this morning to bring you the results of my aerial photography experiment with fly or bee-like insects which patrol our lawn. Needless to say, many blurred examples have been binned, but the one above is quite striking.
What are they? Does any kind reader know? I hope they may be bee-related because of all the fuss about bee health. But they don't look quite right.
Whatever they are, their future in Leeds looks healthy. See picture of a happy moment for two of them yesterday, below.
9 comments:
Hi Martin, Could be a drone fly,a bee-mimic whose larva is the delightful, aquatic rat-tailed maggot that has a breathing tube like a submarine snorkel. Envious of your picture - I've been trying to photograph one of these in flight for ages...
Oh Phil thanks so much - you are speedy! Hope you are keeping well too. I'm a very dodgy photographer so I'm sure you'll have no trouble. I out my Cannon Ixus on macro mode, the one with the little tulip symbol, then waited with finger on the click-button and I found that these flies, which have a hover mode and were already interested in me (as lunch?) came very close. Mind you, as I said in the post, there were a LOT of blurred ones.
I am very frustrated by Orange Tips and a blue - Holly I think - which are in the garden but never seem to rest. All v best M
I think phil's right! Ferdinandea cuprea is another common bee-like hoverfly
Thanks Worm!
I am now Googling rat-tailed submarine maggots and Ferdinandea cuprea (who was Ferdinand I wonder?)
all v best
M
Brilliant picture!
Right...back to the moth editing...
I am rather proud of it Iain, I must admit. There are a whole lot more outside at the moment, posing in the sunshine, but I've got to work. Good luck with the editing - the programme is all down to Iain folks - and look out tomorrow for Harrison B - and more on your good self. All v best, Kate Middleton's almost-relative ie me.
Hi Martin.
I think the first image, is a Eristalis Tenax.
Drone Fly.
John.
Hi Martin, Got your message about the frog shortage. I think it must be a local problem as I haven't heard any reports of a widespread frog catastrophe - although someone I know in Derby lost all the frogs in their pond, possibly as a result of chytrid infection. It would be a bit late for them to turn up now - frogs tend to return to ponds well before toads. I had pretty good winter survival of frogs in my garden here in Durham and they produced plenty of spawn.
Thanks again everyone - got the Drone Fly named, much appreciated. Not the best of names, like Northern Drab among the moths, but there we go.
Thanks for the frogs info, Phil. We'll sit tight and hope some come back to us in due course.
All best, one and all
M
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