HAPPY SNAPPER.

I had a good couple of walks this morning. I didn't find anything rare but I did snap a little above my pay grade. I'll start with two flies on a blade of grass.

These are male and female Golden Dung Flies; Scathophaga stercoraria. I'll leave you to sort out the sexes. If you look at them enlarged you will see the pseudopupil. A fly's eye is made up of several receptors called ommatidia The dark bit is the part seeing you as it's absorbing light. You can also see the haltere under the wing; it looks like a stick with a blob on the end. This counterbalances the fly in flight. It has one the other side to stop it flying in circles.

This is a Crane Fly; Nephrotoma quadrifaria. It is an attractive wee beast but a pound to a penny it's larva eat barley roots. Naughty larva.

I am very pleased with this. I had a wander down to the burn looking for caddis fly larva but found this newly hatched beauty climbing up a stick.  It is a Mayfly, possibly Serratella ignita. Mayflies are interesting as they have two adult incarnations one as a Dun and then as a Spinner. I think this is a Dun. Life is never a smooth ride, whilst taking this I crouched a little too far and my welly filled with burn water.

 I am getting rather a backlog of insects so may have another post when I've identified them.
Have fun.