The other day I photographed some lovely newly minted, straight out of the packet, flies in the orchard.
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| A male stiletto fly Thereva sp, all golden and fuzzy. |
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| A beautiful male bee fly Villa hottentotta in perfect condition. |
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| Male bee fly Villa hottentotta, so beautifully golden and furry. He can be distinguished from other lookalikes by his gold dusted patagium (the protective flap over his wing joints, which in other similar species is silver). |
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| The
parasitic fly Tachina magnicornis, a known pollinator of Burnt-tip
Orchids. It can be distinguished from its close lookalike T. fera by its
black femurs and 'string of beads' or series of black lozenge shapes
down the abdomen, rather than orangey femurs and a plain tapering black stripe on the
abdomen. T. magnicornis is much more abundant in the Touraine Loire Valley than T. fera. |
1 comment:
Amazing photos, Susan, especially considering that you were able to capture that gold dust on the patagium of the one specimen.
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