Monday 30 September 2013

The fly which came in from the cold


No trapping last night because of other commitments, but here's a poignant picture of a dead fly; Heliophilus pendulus or the 'sun-loving dangler' if I am not mistaken.  It looks like one of those images of a traveller lost in a desert and finally giving up the ghost. Poor creature. I think it was the heat in our greenhouse which did for it.


It's one of the UK's seven types of hoverfly, one of those fascinating and harmless insects whose aerial antics are very enjoyable on a warm and sunny day like yesterday. Too much sun-loving can be fatal, however, to flies as much as to us.


Heliophilus is sometimes nicknamed the 'footballer fly' because of its bold black and yellow strip, the colour combination famously associated with Wolverhampton Wanderers. They had better luck at the weekend, beating Sheffield United 2-0.

More moths soon.

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