Sunday, 26 April 2020

Blaencaerau C.O.P.

23 species of hoverfly were seen today, which easily beats my previous April record of 19 species. A number were new for the year - Platycheirus tarsalis, Chrysotoxum arcuatum, Cheilosia fraterna, Cheilosia illustrata, Cheilosia proxima, Chrysogaster virescens, Neoascia meticulosa, Sphegina sibirica, Eristalis horticola and Xylota segnis. Another Cheilosia chrysocoma (male) was seen and it is turning out to be a good year for this species.

Orange-tip butterflies were still present in good numbers due to a good showing of Cuckooflower this year. My first Cuckoo of the year was seen, Whitethroat numbers remain at 2 for the moment.

 Orange Tip
 Cheilosia chrysocoma
Cheilosia species - fits the albitarsis agg. tarsi pattern, but the antennae are the wrong colour and could be a Cheilosia ranunculi, which is very rare, but won't get it past the Hoverfly Recording Scheme tight identification procedure for photographs of difficult to identify species.

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