UPDATED: This workshop was due to take place on Sat 3 March, but had to be postponed due to the snowy conditions. We hope to run it on Sat 24 March instead – if you had previously booked you should hear direct from Sussex Wildlife Trust.
Hoverflies, houseflies, fruit flies, soldierflies, bee-flies, craneflies, and more: flies are all around us, but are often overlooked or even actively discouraged.
Using photos, specimens, keys and microscopes we will explore the incredible world of the Diptera. This course will provide an introduction to fly families and how to identify them.
This is the annual workshop meeting for Dipterists Forum at Preston Montford FSC, Shropshire. This year soldierflies and allies are one of the groups being covered.
“This advanced workshop tackles two Diptera groups, Anthomyiidae (flower flies) and some of the larger Brachycera (soldierflies and allies). The larger Brachycera include many charismatic species popular with recorders but, despite their large size and colourful appearance, not all are easy to identify. The more tricky species, for example among horseflies, robber-flies and stiletto-flies, are the focus of the workshop. Anthomyiidae (flower flies) is a family of about 240 species of dark bristly flies whose larvae are mainly miners in plants but also in dung and fungi. They include some very common species but are often ignored owing to a reputation for being difficult to identify. New keys and excellent illustrations place them well within the capability of more experienced entomologists.”
Sessions will be lead by expert members of the Dipterists Forum.
Soldierflies and allies (including robberflies, bee-flies, horseflies and others) include some of our largest and most colourful insects. Some are easy to find whereas others require dedicated searching, but these flies are within reach of anyone with an interest in insects.
On this day course you’ll get the chance to learn about the natural history of the group, and with the use of microscopes and museum specimens you’ll be able to develop your identifiation skills for this group. You will also find out how to take part in the Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme, and where to go for further help and identification advice.
This workshop focuses on iRecord and Pantheon, two online resources that can help you record and interpret your observations of insects and other invertebrates.
To fully participate in this workshop you will need a computer that is connected to the internet. Please bring your own laptop if you can.
Today saw the first reasonably heavy snowfall in our part of the Chilterns for quite a while, so we couldn’t resist heading up the hill for some sledging and to visit BBOWT’s Grangelands reserve. The air was crisp, and the snow-enveloped landscape was beautiful. I wasn’t really expecting to find much insect life to watch, so was surprised to see a small caterpillar crawling across the top of some fairly deep snow.
At first I thought this must be a one-off oddity, perhaps dropped onto the snow by a bird or carried there by the wind, but then I started seeing others. I found eight in a short space of time, all seemingly happy to be out and about on the surface of the pristine snow.
The dark speck in the lower middle of the photo is a caterpillar!
On closer examination at least some were caterpillars of the Large Yellow Underwing moth (Noctua pronuba), a well-known and very abundant species in the UK. I hadn’t been aware of its habit of being active in such conditions, but a web search leads to a number of American reports of similar snowy adventures for this species (see this post by Vermont naturalist Mary Holland for example, plus some additional photos on BugGuide). Large Yellow Underwing is an introduced species in America, and can be a pest species. Its winter activities are so well-known there that it also goes under the name of Winter Cutworm or Snow Cutworm.
I’ve always had a sneaking admiration for how well Large Yellow Underwing manages to survive in the modern world, but I’m even more impressed by its hardiness now! Has anyone else seen this snow-walking behaviour in the UK?
[Update at 15 December: thanks to Martin Townsend for pointing out that the brown caterpillar in the photo below looks like it is something other than Large Yellow Underwing, so it’s likely that at least two species were involved.]
Unidentified brown caterpillar on the snowLarge Yellow Underwing caterpillar brought indoors for photo
A workshop arranged for the Shropshire Spider Group by the Tomorrow’s Biodiversity project. Pantheon (www.brc.ac.uk/pantheon) is an analytical tool developed by Natural England and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) to enable invertebrate species to be linked to the habitats and resources that they require.
(Free for members of Shropshire Spider Group, contact the organisers to see if additional places are available.)
Moths: contrary to popular opinion, they are fascinating creatures, often brightly coloured, and they won’t eat your clothes (with a very few exceptions)! Come to this talk at Chesham and District Natural History Society to find out more.
I’m leading a session on insect recording (on Sunday 7 May) as part of this weekend-long event organised by BENHS and Sussex University.
The event is aimed primarily at student and young entomologists who would like to extend their entomological interests and knowledge, but also more experienced entomologists who are prepared to pass on some of their specialist knowledge to others.
Those attending will have the opportunity to collect and identify insects on the university campus and surrounding area, contribute to a campus species list and share their knowledge and enthusiasm with other participants.
The meeting is free but booking is essential as spaces are limited.
This course provides an introduction to micro-moths; their identification, natural history and conservation. Although small, many micro-moths are brightly coloured and distinctive, while others are less easy to identify. This course will help you sort out the different groups, and learn how to find and record them.
The course is aimed at anyone with an interest in moths, especially if you’ve already got an interest in the larger moths and are interested in tackling the smaller species, many of which can be found by day. The course includes a mix of presentations and activities, indoors and in the habitats around Woods Mill.
This course provides an introduction to moths; their identification, natural history and conservation. Many moths are brightly coloured and distinctive, while others are less easy to identify. This course will help you sort out the different families and groups, and learn how to find and record them. We will demonstrate moth traps, and look for day-active species.
Course for BBOWT “Develop Your Skills” series. Please contact BBOWT for details.
