Hydrotaea diabolica from Cullaloe LNR

A nice addition to the reserve list and one of my favourite flies. Fantiastic legs

Satan's knees

Fore femur

Hind femur

Cullaloe LNR weekend flies

Some nice flies at the weekend, even in a small sample

Palloptera scutellata (Rush Flutter Fly) was beaten out of spruce on Saturday - new to me and to the reserve.

On Sunday the chironomid Anatopynia plumipes (Fries) was swept over the spillway.

Also new to the reserve were the muscid  Coenosia lacteipennis and the fruit fly Drosophila subobscura

Pullimosina pullula (Sphaeroceridae), Cullaloe LNR, 29th Feb 2020

Abdomen unsclerotised on T1+2

Empis trigramma, Cullaloe LNR, 22.v.2019

A pair taken in cop has been sitting patiently awaiting determination. Might have done them earlier if I'd known they'd be so straightforward. Mike Hackston's keys.

This is a typical distribution of records for a common fly in Scotland:

There is an area covered by the Highland Biological Recording Group which makes it appear that pretty much any species is more common in that area. This is true for even ubiquitous flies like Calliphora vicina. The rest of the country needs to raise its game!

Fife's new flesh fly, Brachicoma devia, from Cullaloe LNR

Loc: Cullaloe LNR, Fife
Grid: NT1887
Date: 11/07/19
Brachicoma devia, Male

Hydrotaea at Cullaloe LNR

Hydrotaea is a genus in the family Muscidae and they have (all of them?) very curious modifications to their legs. So far this year I've seen three species - armipes, meteorica and floccosa.

armipes is a new county record, meteorica appears to be second for Scotland while floccosa appears to be new to Scotland altogether - not a bad collection.

Hydrotea armipes

A curious hook on femur 3

Femur 1 - two bumps and a tooth

Hydrotea floccosa

Femur 1

Neoascia meticulosa at Cullaloe LNR

From Marsh Marigold on the 3rd of May

Tipula submarmorata new to Fife from Cullaloe LNR

A male swept pathside

Tipula rufina, Cullaloe LNR

On a wooden fence this morning, my first of the year, though Tipula vittata beat it to the punch for first Tipula by a matter of days

Suilia affinis at Cullaloe LNR.

An interesting species in the bottle trap at Cullaloe was new for Fife, though subsequently I found another unidentified specimen of this on a pin from Dalgety Bay last year. As an English name I'd go for Speckled Suillia!

(edit: I now think these are S.variegata)

Helina evecta (Muscidae), male, at Cullaloe LNR

Phronia humeralis new to Fife from Cullaloe LNR

In moss in the roadside W11 woodland in January, this gave me the runaround as either P.humeralis or P.forcipula but it seems they may have been synonymised (to be confirmed).

It's a fungus gnat in the family Myctephilidae.

Dicranota lucidipennis new to Fife from Cullaloe LNR

A female hanging on grass over fast moving water channel. This is a pretty widespread species but not apparently recorded in Fife before. I got hung up on a misunderstanding of the keys so ID was provided by Geoff Foale via Dipterists Forum (after that it was, of course, obvious!).

It's only the third species of Pediciidae for the county.

Dixa nebulosa, Cullaloe LNR, 15/11/2017

Species: Dixa nebulosa, male
Location: Cullaloe LNR
Gridref: NT1887
Date: 15/11/2017
Notes: On wooden deck beside filter beds
NOFI status: not recorded prior to 2006 report