Cefn Ydfa " zero hoverfly" 1km square no more

 After failing miserably on Saturday trying to put Mynydd Bach (south) through the 100 species barrier (stuck on 98), I decided to visit a 1km square with zero records to finish off the week. The square SS8786 named Cefn Ydfa looked challenging. When I arrived I noticed nearly all the paths were covered in the dreaded Himalayan Balsam and even the path to the woods was too overgrown to walk. There were virtually no native wild flowers in bloom. I continued to walk the track hoping for some umbellifers. Right at the end where there is a gate to the house on the hill was a tiny patch of sunlight where there was a gap in the balsam and to my delight a fair patch of Upright Hedge Parsley in bloom with a few other plants. Bingo hoverflies were all over it and I recorded 15 species in 20 minutes there. Mostly common stuff but they all count, Best being Chrysotoxum bicinctum, Myathropa florea and Cheilosia scutellata. I also manged to find and photograph my second only Cinnamon Bug (Corizus hyoscyami).

Tiny patch of hope (Upright Hedge Parsley) at Cefn Ydfa

Myathropa florea

Cinnamon Bug

So another 1km square bites the dust only 2 left now, I think I'll save them for next year in June when there should be more hoverflies around as they are both mountain top squares.

With time to spare (not yet midday) I decided to stop at the Llangynwyd viaduct farm lanes as they had a good crop of Wild flowers in bloom on my visit 2 weeks ago. Disaster, some donk had used a strimmer to cut back the lane edges chopping down all the wild flowers and leaving only Himalayan balsam. The Hogweed were keeping the balsam in check, another insect rich site ruined. Not to be out done by I walked the village lanes which held plenty of Hogweed and garden flowers to attract hoverflies of which I recorded 20 species with new for the year in Melangyna umbellatarum and Lejogaster metallina (number 95 & 96). With quite a few commoner species to get and specimens I should get to 100 species for the year, if I haven't already done so with specimens.

Old and twisted Oak - a bit like me

Volucella bombylans - quite a late date

Eriothrix rufiomaculata (tachinidae fly)

It was now the warmest part of the day at 2pm and the temperature had reached 24c quite rapidly, so a quick final stop at Maesteg Golf Course produced another 20 species of hoverfly, nothing new for the year, best being Leucozona glaucia, Leucozona laternaria and Volucella pellucens. Sadly back to work tomorrow, at least I'm afternoons and don't have to get up at 0430 in the morning

Riponnensia splendens

Figwort Sawfly

Liriomyza eupatorii leaf-mine (fly) on Hemp Agrimony