Weekly roundup

My internet has been down for 3 days due to an error somewhere outside the house. But I'm back up and running now, so here's a few photos from the last few days. The Hemlock Water Droplet is now starting to bloom in Lletty Woods so with some fine weather the insects should start piling in. In Fact I had 38 species of hoverfly there yesterday.

 Golden-ringed Dragonfly - just emerging with the wings still warming up

 Longhorn Beetle - Grammoptera ruficornis, one of the smallest longhorns, 3 present yesterday

 Longhorn Beetle - Pachytodes cerambyciformis known as the Speckled Longhorn

 Oedemera nobilis - a very common beetle and called The Swollen-thighed Beetle for obvious reasons. There are 3 other species in the family all of which have been recorded in the valley

 Criorhina berberina

 Eristalis horticola

 Volucella pellucens - the blackest I've ever seen

 Xylota sylvarum

Parhelophilus [versicolor] - as stated before this family of three cannot be ID'd from photos. Luckily I was able to pot this one and determine the species. It is the second commonest of the family and we really should be getting at least one of the other two somewhere in the valley.