After an abandoned trip to Chambers Wood due to the rubbish early morning weather, i decided to travel over to Messingham Sand Quarries and meet up with Dave there.
A chance meeting with Colin, saw the three of us covering the reserve together and finding a brilliant selection of insects, considering the weather conditions at times during the day.
I managed to find 2 confirmed new species for myself and Colin found me 1 also. They were Common Awl Robberfly, Stripe-legged Robberfly and the tiny Soldier Fly species Oplodontha viridulum or Common-green Colonel as it is also known.
Some cracking Hoverflies were also seen, with the best being some lovely examples of Chrysotoxum festivum, both Volucella Bombylans and pelluscens, Parhelophilus fruitetorum/versicolor, Anasimyia contracta and several Cheilosia illustrata.
Very few Butterflies were recorded on the visit, but i managed to find quite a few Brimstone Caterpillars which was encouraging and also a smart Vapourer Moth Caterpillar showed nicely.
Other assorted insects which i managed to take some nice photos of included Beetles, Golden-bloomed grey Longhorn, Garden Chafer, the beautifully metallic Swollen-thighed Beetle and Burying Beetle species Nicrophorus vespillo.
Fly encounters included the lovely Black Snipe Flies and a superb Figwort Sawfly.
Birds were a little thin on the ground on today's visit, but it was great to hear a Cuckoo singing away.
The following are my favourite photos from the day.
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| Brimstone Butterfly Caterpillar. |
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| Vapourer Moth Caterpillar. |
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| Hoverfly Sp. Volucella Bombylans Or Bumblebee Plumehorn |
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| Hoverfly Sp. Anasimyia contracta Or Waisted Swamp Fly |
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| Snail Killing Fly - Coremacera marginata |
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| Golden-bloomed grey Longhorn Beetle. |
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| The Stunning Figwort Sawfly. |
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| Burying Beetle - Nicrophorus vespillo |
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| What A Stunning Hoverfly, Chrysotoxum festivum Or Hook-banded Meadow Fly |
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| The Diminutive Oplodontha viridulum Or Common-green Colonel, A New Species For Me. |
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| The Stunningly Metallic Swollen-thighed Beetle - Oedemera nobilis. |
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| Hoverfly Parhelophilus fruitetorum/versicolor |
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| Garden Chafer. |
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| Hoverfly Sp. Cheilosia illustrata Or Bumblebee Blacklet |
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| Fourteen Spot Ladybird |
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| Stripe-legged Robberfly, Another New Species For Myself. |
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| Common Awl Robberfly, Another New Species! |
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| Female Black Snipe Fly. |
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| Male Black Snipe Fly |
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