Sunrise at Braefoot

 

Sympyhta larva identiifcation

 http://www.wildlifeinsight.com/sawfly-caterpillars-or-larvae/

Liancalus virens - a nice Dodolichopodid from Aberdour

 From the coastal path in a few places east of Aberdour - several seen on damp walls. Already recorded from Dalgety Bay but maybe widespread in the right kind of habitat.

Polyporivora picta new to Fife from Dalgety Bay

 Swept from the area north of the railway toward Fordell in Dalgety Bay

Grimshaw System - historic geekiness we can't live without

 In 1905 Percy Grimshaw, dissatisfied with the methods of describing bristles on the legs of flies while preparing a work on Hydrotaea (one of my favourite genera), devised a system which was, in Colyer and Hammond, referred to as "The Grimshaw System". I'm not sure how may people know he invented it, or even who he was, but I was buzzing today to find the original article from 1905 available here:

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/36031#page/201/mode/1up

He makes the case for the need, describes the system and then demonstrates its use on Calliphora erythrocephala M. (= C.vicina).

Percy not only did a whole lot for Scottish entomology but he gave us a basic alphabet that people use on a daily basis with almost certainly no idea where it came from.

More about Percy:

http://grimshaworigin.org/miscellaneous-grimshaw-individuals/percy-h-grimshaw-dipterist/

Lispe tentacula at Loch Gelly, 3.viii.20

This spectacularly-palped fly was in some numbers on open sandy patches beside the east end of the loch, No prior county record and not many on NBN in Scotland. Its congener L.pygmaea is known from Tentsmuir.

Dexiosoma caninum from High Valleyfield, 2.viii.20

Nice to bring a fly from a new location. This appears to be a woodland species, also very common in Ross Plantation, Dalgety Bay