Dalgety Bay - Fannia by gaslight

A very busy weekend with family activities, off-square naturebothering and grass cutting, but I did manage to squeeze in enough time to stay on track. A lovely Streamer was new for me (Satellite added same day)

Streamer

Fannia mollissima is a very common fly here at this time of year. At least it was last year. Its abdominal shape is distinctive, though not absolutely unique.

Fannia mollissima

In January I grabbed a couple of teaspoonfuls of putrified grass clippings from my garden rubbish bin. It was heaving with larvae. A lot of Fannia were present. I checked the jar in the garage which had now started buzzing. Inside I found about 10 Fannia scalaris. The male here with its curious leg "processes". Apart from one other fly I already took from this collection there were a couple of smaller ones I didn't do.

I found some Few-flowered Garlic, which was new to me - an amazingly large patch of it in flower which I had somehow contrived to not notice before, and also some Green Alkanet - another common species I'd never run into. So all in all still on target for 667 by month end, and with the weather distinctly better no reason why not (famous last words...)

(edit note: my Cream-spot Ladybirds were redetermined to Orange Ladybird by someone who knows better. New species to me, so a nice surprise and a reminder to double check things you think are obvious!)

Numbers

633		diptera	Syrphus torvus	A hoverfly
634		flowering plant	Ligusticum scoticum	Scottish Lovage
635		diptera	Helina evecta	A muscid fly
636		hymenoptera	Bombus hortorum	Garden Bumblee
637		diptera	Fannia mollissima	A lesser house fly
638		diptera	Sepsis punctum	A sepsid fly
639		lep-moth	Eupsilia transversa	Satellite
640	*	lep-moth	Anticlea derivata	Streamer
641	*	flowering plant	Pentaglottis sempervirens	Green Alkanet
642	*	flowering plant	Allium paradoxum	Few-flowered Garlic
643		mammal	Capreolus capreolus	Roe Deer
644		bird	Phylloscopus trochila	Willow Warbler
645	*	diptera	Fannia scalaris	A lesser house fly
646		flowering plant	Cochlearia danica	Danish Scurvy-grass