Sepsid

Another sepsid fly from Cullaloe. These flies like to walk on leaves displaying by waving their wings. This one, Sepsis cynipsea, is a fairly common species but my first and the first for Cullaloe.

The wing spots mark it out as a member of the genus Sepsis and the bumps and spines on the forelegs help to identify it to species.

Moth bonus

Another image not posted earlier - the ever impressive Poplar Hawk

Moth Magic

After considering whether 125 species of moth was a reach we recorded 60 species on Friday night, adding c.50 to the year list and about 10 to the reserve list, not to mention to my own life list. So the moth list for the year now stands at 102 and 125 is not only possible, but likely

Also added Zigzag Clover to the reserve list, which was spotted in the light of the MV trap thanks to Tim's alert eye.

Since I forgot my camera there aren't great pics. Phone camera performance is hit and miss, especially in the dark.

Pretty Pinion

Pinion-streaked Snout - 3rd for Fife

Swallow-tailed

Single-dotted Wave

Barred Red

Six-stripe Rustic

Peppered

Large Emerald

Awkward time

It's that awkward time of the year, when everything is so abundant that you need 24 hours and a clone to keep up. Awkward but amazing. Fungi are beginning to come into their own while invertebrate life continues apace.

A quick moment to refocus and re-assess targets:
46 of 100 fungi have been recorded
2 out of 5 harvestmen have been recorded
22 out of 25 beetles have been recorded
53 out of 125 moth species, though this should be remedied soon (weather and focussing on other sites)
35 out of 50 spiders have been recorded

I think I will downgrade the moth target because other hectads need the recording effort. The rest are fair game though. Also after the summer rush calms down I should be able to pick up a lichen or two.

For the moment here's a calming picture of a Ringlet

Huggable hovers - Cheilosia illustrata

Hogweed brings out the hovers for sure. When it isn't raining, that is.

Another cleg

Since it was so obliging and didn't bite me

Count

Since the count is now well over 500 for the year and I don't remember sticking up numbers recently, here's a breakdown of what's been found so far. There is a notable lack of moth records as I have been concentrating mothing activity on another hectad. Numbers should quickly jump when the trap is put out though, with over 100 species at the lower end of expectations. Diptera, targetted at 50, may stretch to 100 by the end of the year, if not the summer, and several new species have been added.

Taxon Group	Records	Taxa
acarine (Acari)	1	1
amphibian	4	3
bird	78	70
centipede	2	2
conifer	2	2
crustacean	5	4
false scorpion (Pseudoscorpiones)	3	1
fern	2	2
flowering plant	154	133
fungus	56	46
harvestman (Opiliones)	2	2
horsetail	2	2
insect - alderfly (Megaloptera)	2	2
insect - beetle (Coleoptera)	27	22
insect - butterfly	23	9
insect - dragonfly (Odonata)	1	1
insect - earwig (Dermaptera)	1	1
insect - hymenopteran	9	6
insect - lacewing (Neuroptera)	1	1
insect - moth	62	50
insect - orthopteran	1	1
insect - scorpion fly (Mecoptera)	1	1
insect - stonefly (Plecoptera)	2	1
insect - true bug (Hemiptera)	7	7
insect - true fly (Diptera)	139	66
lichen	5	5
liverwort	16	12
millipede	5	4
mollusc	4	3
moss	75	58
spider (Araneae)	49	35
springtail (Collembola)	2	2
terrestrial mammal	2	2

Horsefly

Or Notch-horned Cleg, Haematopota pluvialis. There were quite a number on the day, including one that took a portion of blood from my hand. Amazing eyes.

iRecord records

My recording world!

(Turkish bird records not included)

The best hoverfly?

Could be. A contender anyway. Chrysotoxum bicinctum, from Mossmorran

Alongside a few more hovers was this nice soldierfly Cloromyis formosa

This hover, Pipiza bimaculata, seems to be new to Fife though widespread. I've had  a few in the last couple of days now