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Another Nationally Scarce hoverfly, whose larvae develop in water-filled rot holes in mature trees. A male Myolepta dubia on Hogweed inside Gamlingay Wood LNR, S. Cambridgeshire this morning (14/6/25).

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With the orange pollen brush lacking a black tip, this leafer cutter bee is fairly straightforward to identify. A female Megachile centuncularis (Patchwork Leafcutter Bee) on Brachyglottis 'Sunshine' in my S. Cambridgeshire garden this afternoon.

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Mallota cimbiciformis is a Nationally Scarce hoverfly whose larvae develop in water-filled rot holes in mature trees. Most years, I find one or two on Hogweed at the edge of my S. Cambs village woods, Gamlingay Wood LNR (2nd photo). I was pleased to find one on rose inside the woods this morning.

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Female Broad-bodied Chaser. Gamlingay Wood LNR, S. Cambridgeshire 8/6/25.

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Sericomyia silentis is a large hoverfly, most usually associated with wet moorland & bogs. Whilst common in N and W Britain, they are fairly scarce in S. Cambridgeshire. Gamlingay Wood LNR 4/6/25. First recorded in this damp, ancient woodland by myself in 2019 & seen annually here since.

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Paxton Pits LNR, Cambridgeshire 1/6/25. This local reserve certainly lived up to its British Dragonfly Society's 'Dragonfly Hotspot' designation this morning. Here's a few of those photographed, all males. Norfolk Hawker Scarce Chaser Hairy Dragonfly Four-spotted Chaser

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Scarlet Tiger (Callimorpha dominula), a new moth for the garden list. A species, like many, whose range is expanding northwards. I spotted it whilst watering the herb patch this afternoon, in amongst the Garlic Chives. S. Cambridgeshire 31/5/25.

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The two common forms of Volucella bombylans, a large and furry bumblebee mimic hoverfly. The larvae are scavengers in bumblebee nests. V. bombylans var. plumata, a White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) mimic. V. bombylans var. bombylans, a Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) mimic.

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Blackbirds are busy feeding their 2nd brood in my garden. At least, after some rain, they can find food easier, and I can cut back on providing mealworms.

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A metallic blue wood-boring beetle in the garden today. Agrilus cyanescens (fam. Buprestidae), one I recorded on the same rose bush in June 2024. Uncommon in the UK, though records suggest it's increasing its numbers & range. Larvae develop in Honeysuckle, which grows in the garden. S. Cambs 29/5/25

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Andrena nigrospina (Scarce Black Mining Bee) S. Cambridgeshire 28/5/25. I usually get a few garden records of this rare bee each year. This is the first time I've seen one elsewhere in my village. A female on Pyracantha, about 500m from my home.

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Chrysotoxum cautum, one of five very similar wasp mimic hoverflies in the UK. Overgrown field margins are a reliable habitat for this species in my S. Cambs village. I enjoyed watching a female ovipositing on Cocksfoot today, moving plant to plant, laying a single white egg on a leaf of each

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Three species in the syrphid tribe, Xylotini seen in Gamlingay Wood LNR, S. Cambridgeshire today. Brachypalpoides lentus (Crimson-belted Leafwalker) Xylota sylvarum (Golden-tailed Leafwalker) Xylota segnis (Orange-belted Leafwalker)

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Male & female Sicus ferrugineus (Ferruginous Bee-grabber), S. Cambridgeshire 23/5/25. My first sightings this year of this conopid fly, an endoparasite of bumblebees.

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A sawfly (fam. Symphyta), the Small Yellow-girdled Tenthredo (Tenthredo temula) with hoverfly prey, a female Meliscaeva auricollis. Gamlingay Wood LNR, S. Cambridgeshire 23/5/25.

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Criorhina floccosa is a large hoverfly that is an excellent mimic of the Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum). Both species photographed this morning on roses at the edge of Gamlingay Wood LNR, S. Cambridgeshire.

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Beetles seen on wild roses at the edge of Gamlingay Wood LNR, S.Cambridgeshire yesterday (21/5/25). Red-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa coccinea) Variable Longhorn Beetle (Stenocorus meridianus) Wasp Beetle (Clytus arietis) Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)

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Some of the larger hoverflies seen on wild roses at the edge of Gamlingay Wood LNR, S. Cambs this morning. Volucella inflata on Dog Rose (Rosa canina) Myathropa florea on Field Rose (Rosa arvensis) Eristalis pertinax on Dog Rose (Rosa canina) Helophilus pendulus on Field Rose (Rosa arvensis)

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S. Cambs garden 18/5/25. That's a distinctive looking mirid. It should be easy to ID. Not so, however, if your 1st port of call is "Land and Water Bugs of the British Isles" (Southwood & Leston, 1959)! Closterotomus trivialis, native to the Mediterranean, was first recorded in the UK in 2009.

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Sawfly larvae aren't really my thing, but this little beauty caught my eye yesterday. The larva of Periclista pubescens. P. pubescens has the longest branched bristles of the three UK sawfly species in the genus that feed on Oaks. Gamlingay Wood LNR, S. Cambridgeshire 16/5/25.

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All four UK species of large hoverflies in the genus Criorhina occur in my S. Cambridgeshire village wood (Gamlingay Wood LNR). I finally found Criorhina berberina today to complete the set for the year. The other three species are posted for comparison.

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The Red-headed Cardinal (Pyrochroa serraticornis) is an abundant species in my S. Cambridgeshire village wood, Gamlingay Wood LNR. The Black-headed Cardinal, on the other hand, is much scarcer in my region and I was pleased to see my first in the woods this morning.

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My first plumehorns (Volucella spp.) of the year. Volucella inflata, an ancient woodland species, restricted to the southern half of Britain. Volucella bombylans, a bumblebee mimic which has a much wider range, north to Orkney. Gamlingay Wood LNR, S. Cambridgeshire 16/5/25.

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I was quite surprised to see a worker Median Wasp (Dolichovespula media) in my S. Cambridgeshire garden today. By far, the earliest I've seen one, by about a month.

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Female Conops vesicularis (Hornet Grabber). I've recorded about a dozen male C. vesicularis inside the woods, about 500m away, over the past few weeks. Nice to find a female in my S. Cambridgeshire garden today, the 6th consecutive year, that this wonderful & scarce fly has been recorded here.

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A mating pair of Woundwort Shieldbugs (Eysarcoris venustissimus) in Gamlingay Wood LNR, Cambridgeshire, this morning. A new species for me.

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Not a bird that I was expecting to see in my village woods this morning (Gamlingay Wood LNR, S. Cambridgeshire). A pair of fairly tame non-native Reeves Pheasants. I've posted them on village FB groups. Someone is probably missing them.

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A male Empis tessellata (Tessellated Dance Fly). A common species in my S. Cambridgeshire garden and elsewhere in the UK. Our largest Dance Fly or Dagger Fly (fam. Emipididae). Only males are predatory. A male must present a prey item to a female before she will mate with him.

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Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae). Australia's commonest gull, often spotted while watching test matches. Photographed on Lady Musgrave Island, Southern Great Barrier Reef, October 2023. #SuperSeabirdSunday

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Royal Terns on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica (February 2025). #SuperSeabirdSunday

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It's a bit cool and cloudy today with little insect activity. Here's some male Leucozona lucorum, photographed in my S. Cambs village woods yesterday. These pretty hoverflies were each protecting their little sunlit territories and seeing off all interlopers who dared to enter.

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Abia lonicerae/aenea in my S. Cambridgeshire garden this afternoon. A magnificent sawfly, it's just a pity that the two similar species can not be separated when photographed.

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Hoverfly of the day in Gamlingay Wood LNR, S. Cambridgeshire, an ancient woodland, only a 10 minute stroll from my home. A male Criorhina floccosa, an excellent Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) mimic. Localised in mature woodland with plenty of dead wood, in which the larvae breed.

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A couple of red beetles from this morning in Gamlingay Wood LNR, S. Cambridgeshire. Red-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis. Fam. Pyrochroidae) and Hazel Leaf-roller (Apoderus coryli. Fam. Attelabidae)

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I had a wonderful insect safari in my village wood, Gamlingay Wood LNR, this morning. It's hard to choose a Fly of the Day, one of these two probably. Conops vesicularis "Hornet Grabber" Fam. Conopidae. Criorhina asilica "Pale-banded Bearfly" Fam. Syrphidae.

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My first Odonata of the year in the village woods this morning. Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula), male & female and Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum), male. Gamlingay Wood LNR, S. Cambridgeshire 29/4/25.

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