Dylan Hodgkiss

Happy to see that the bee flies (Bombylius major in this case) have returned!

I found this male (eyes touching) and female (eyes separate) tapered drone flies (Eristalis pertinax) resting on adjacent primrose leaves in a local wood last weekend.

Found this female Tachinid fly (Cistogaster globosa) feeding on hogweed in the margin of a strawberry field last August. Apparently, they are parasitoids of the Bishop's Mitre shieldbug (Aelia acuminata).

@EmilyJBailes Thanks Emily! The new job is going alright thanks. It involves a lot of strawberry yield data analysis essentially. How is your work going?

@AnxiousAnalyst @RichardComont @flygirlNHM Thanks Dylan! I forgot about your flies expertise! Hope the new job is going well :)

Is it a bee? No it's a fly! Awesome bumblebee mimic seen foraging on marjorum. I'm not very good on my fly ID but I think it might be Merodon equestris? @RichardComont @flygirlNHM

@sphaerularia Ragworts are among my favourite flowers: great for cinnabar moths and a large host of pollinators. It's annoying that they've got such a bad rap because of their toxicity to livestock. They desperately need some better press, I reckon.

Urban weeds support biodiversity - garden gently

Around this time last year, we asked the fine folks at @CerealsEvent, "What do you think about fly pollination?" Thanks @Farmer_Tom_UK, you hit the nail on the head. (@flygirlNHM we've still got some work to do getting the word out)🗣️

Found this male maybug (aka cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha) resting among potted blackberry and raspberry plants at a local garden centre:

DAY 1 of #EveryFlowerCounts and what a lovely day for it! Spend a few minutes counting the flowers on your lawn and we'll give you your own #PersonalNectarScore @BBCCountryfile @BBCSpringwatch @britishbee @BSBIbotany @wildflower_hour

Here's a female common snout-hoverfly (Rhingia campestris) feeding on midland hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata) and a female St Mark's fly (Bibio marci) both from Standen NT @StandenNT #wildflowerhour

Coriander may prove effective at luring in lacewings to #strawberry crops for aphid #biocontrol. Coriander and two other flower species also increased numbers of #pollinators compared to control plots. Here's a link to the paper: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

@JoshBaum_ @harrysiviter Cheers for that @JoshBaum!

@harrysiviter @AnxiousAnalyst It's Andrena nitida female :)

Look who I saved from the tarmac on the way home from work

A female marmalade #hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) and male Platycheirus albimanus were the first two garden hoverflies of the year for me:

The Yellow-legged Mining Bee (Andrena flavipes) and its cuckoo the Painted Nomad Bee (Nomada fucata) in my garden in late March this year:

Tiger fly discovered new to Britain in London and Edinburgh. A new option for #pesticidefree pest control in glasshouses. Notton, Wyatt, Horsfield & Bland. Free download: researchgate.net/publication/33… #horticulture @RBGE_Science NHMUK013379455

Apologies for the shaky footage, we got in a flap ourselves capturing this Dark- edged bee-fly as they are usually too fast to film.This one was warming up for flight on a garden wall in Newport and despite its name and looks it's not a bee it's actually a fly!#MyWildNewport

@harrysiviter @BumblebeeTrust @SolitaryBeeWeek Lucky you! I'm doing alright thanks. Managed to submit my dissertation a couple of weeks back, so just waiting for the viva now. How's life been treating you?

@AnxiousAnalyst @BumblebeeTrust @SolitaryBeeWeek We’ve got a similar thing in our garden at the moment :) hope you’re well!

New blog post about our lonely, solitary bees #bee @BumblebeeTrust @SolitaryBeeWeek bit.ly/2HRtgY1

3D printed flowers as tool for studying pollination ecology in Begonia by Vicky Ferrero at #ecoflor2019