Nice to see a Dotted Bee-fly (Bombylius discolor) visiting primroses in our Oxford garden at the weekend. A few fresh Dark-edged Bee-flies (Bombylius major) were also seen
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#BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z

Cheilosia pagana, a small black hoverfly, is one of our earliest hoverflies to be seen, flying from March-October. The female is identified by its large orange antennae. #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z @bbowt.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @gailashton.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social

This beauty was spotted at BBOWT's Decoy Heath – a Green Parasite Fly Gymnocheta viridis. Males often bask on tree trunks @bbowt.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @gailashton.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @stevenfalk.bsky.social See our #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z

Check out the review in British Wildlife here bit.ly/4tlMckS for our recently published #BestFlyBook A Photographic Guide to Flies of Britain & Ireland @rdimond.bsky.social @gailashton.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @bbowt.bsky.social @worcswt.bsky.social

Signs of Spring - my first sighting of a male Epistrophe eligans Spring Smoothtail hoverfly yesterday. Love its gold-tinted look.
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@dipteristsforum.bsky.social - Find out what other flies to look out for now in our NEW #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z

This distinctive & attractive hoverfly Leucozona lucorum was seen visiting Ramsons flowers at BBOWT's Whitecross Green Wood on the Bucks/Oxfordshire border. Check out the hoverflies in our NEW #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z @bbowt.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @tverc1.bsky.social

To bee or not to bee - these 2 hoverflies are brilliant bee mimics - Left: Cheilosia chrysocoma mimics Tawny Mining Bee. Right: Criorhina floccosa mimics Common Carder Bee
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@flygirlnhm.bsky.social - see our #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z

Often seen in gardens, this Common Stripeback hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus) was attracted to the Marsh-marigolds in full flower in our garden pond @bbowt.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social
Find out more about flies in our new #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z

The best spring flower display at @bbowt.bsky.social Dancersend for some years with early and later spring species now overlapping, and amongst them I spotted a new fly Bibio reticulatus, something I would not have recorded without #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z - thanks to @naturebureau.bsky.social

A bumblebee-mimic hoverfly Matsumyia berberina seen at BBOWT's Dry Sandford Pit last week before the weather turned damp and colder. One of the many hoverflies featured in our #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z
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Lots of insects this morning at BBOWT's Dry Sandford Pit - the highlight was this Large Ocelot Epiphragma ocellare, a spectacular short-palped cranefly with highly patterned wings (featured in our #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z) @bbowt.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social

The male Silver Colonel is a stunning soldierfly of fens & marshes, this one seen at Rack Marsh nr Newbury, but you need to get the angle just right to capture its silvery abdomen. Look for it April-June #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @bbowt.bsky.social @tverc1.bsky.social

Stripe-backed Fleckwing Dasysyrphus albostriatus basking on a beech leaf at BBOWT's Chinnor Hill in the Chilterns. ID'd by the slanted yellow bars on its abdomen & the 2 grey stripes on the thorax. Check out our NEW #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z @bbowt.bsky.social @gailashton.bsky.social

The stunning male Microtendipes pedellus, a non-biting midge in the Chironomidae, can be seen in damp areas like this one on wild garlic in woodland along the Evenlode in West Oxon - See our #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z @bbowt.bsky.social @gailashton.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

Over 1300 fly species are featured in our #BestFlyBook – the new Guide to Flies of Britain & Ireland, the most complete guide ever published. Order your copy here bit.ly/4dqQI8Z @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @gailashton.bsky.social @tverc1.bsky.social @rdimond.bsky.social

One of the great things about authoring a photographic guide is that it can be enjoyed by all ages. My friend sent me these of her friend's daughter pouring #BestFlyBook in the back of the car (like me with bird books on family holidays). Would be lovely if it inspires more young entomologists!

Good to see our Photographic Guide to Flies of Britain & Ireland #BestFlyBook is already proving useful