Junk Bug

Is it an egg?……..Is it gall?........Is it a pupa?
No, it’s a Junk Bug.

As its Halloween tonight I thought we would delve into the eerie story of the Junk Bug.... 🎃 💀 🦇

 

It was early October, not a month to go looking for insects, the days are drawing shorter and the nights colder. But if you look carefully, you might find something eating aphids on an autumn afternoon. This was one such afternoon. I saw what looked like a speck of dirt on a leaf which needed closer inspection. My first thoughts were it was going to be a micro moth pupa, a gall, or an egg - it turned out to be none of them.

The Hoverfly Spotter’s Solway Birdwatching Holiday

Trip to Scotland 23^rd-26^th October 2025 

Sheffield & Chesterfield RSPB Groups.

Organised by C.Brydone.

My account of sightings and observations from the trip and is by no means a full list of all the sightings or species seen by the group. The photographs are my own unless otherwise indicated, taken with my mobile phone.

Panoramic view of Mersehead

Hoverfly Migration: Incredible Journeys

The most remarkable migrants of all

It is the Autumn season birds are leaving our shores heading to their wintering grounds, a phenomenon known as migration. But did you know insects including some species of hoverflies are known to migrate too.

We are probably all familiar with the migration of the Monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus in the Americas and even closer to home in Europe the Painted Lady Vanessa cardui. But a fly no bigger than a 5p migrating such mass distances you might be a bit skeptical of the suggestion.

Why are hoverflies found on Oil Rigs?    credit Google maps

Hoverfly Sightings W/C 18th October 2025

Fungi forays & birds: A week with naturalists

Please note that the birds part of this blog was so large it warranted its own post Click here

18^th Oct British Naturalist Association: Fun with Fungi, Wortley Hall S.Yorkshire.

It has been a wonderful week for fungi so far. On a visit to Wortley Hall with the British Naturalist Association (B.N.A) we found 43 species just in the grounds. We were finding fungi at the rate of 1 every 4 minutes, identifying them before moving onto the next. The site has unimproved grassland and woodland with some veteran & ancient trees as well as standing deadwood and a few exotics. Leader R.Stewart.

Artificial Intelligence in Natural History

Thought for the Week 

Is the use of Artificial Intelligence in Natural History a good thing?

Do we think over the coming years with the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (A.I) for natural history, will we lose books dedicated to identification?

Strange Jelly Discovered!!!

Tree Snot – the intricate and often overlooked wonders of woodland life.

Sometimes when you go for a nature walk you go with a specific subject matter in mind such as listening to birds in spring, to catch insects on a warm summer day, particularly hoverflies; or as autumn draws-in search for galls and leaf miners, before the trees shed their leaves and the first frosts appear. During such a ramble I always keep an eye out for anything unusual, a natural history curiosity, something either observed behaviourally, or on this occasion a new species to add to my records.

Hoverfly - Common Banded (Syrphus ribesii)

Common Banded (Syrphus ribesii) Size 7.25-11.5mm. Flight. Apr-Nov

Species of the week – 13th October
 

As the nights draw in and the days get colder, windier and wetter the chances to see hoverflies decrease. However, on those warmer days, with a little searching for that hoverfly hotspot, they can be found. One of the species still around in numbers is the Common Banded hoverfly (Syrphus ribesii). They are one of those species where the common in the name does actually mean its common unlike Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago or Common Crane Grus grus. Other names for it are the Common Flower fly, as they are often referred to as flowerflies not hoverflies in the Americas. It is also known as the Humming Banded fly, a naming more related to its behaviour, and one I prefer, if it should become less common.

Guide to Finding Hoverflies Book Review

Book: A Guide to Finding Hoverflies: In Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire.

Peter Creed.

NatureBureau (pbk) published 2014.

73 pages, 140 colour photos.

ISBN 978-1-874357-60-5

A Guide to Finding Hoverflies in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire | NHBS Field Guides & Natural History

If you are new to hoverflies or stumbled onto this website without a clue what a hoverfly is but interested enough to find out more, then this might be the book to start with.

Hoverfly sightings w/c 5th October 2025

How many hoverflies are still around after storm Amy?

Date 11th October: Time of recording 12-4pm: Carlton Marsh, Nr Royston. Temp 14 degrees, Sunny.

Hoverflies logged:

Common Banded (Syrphus ribesii) 3♀, Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax) 1♂, Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax) 1♀, Marmalade (Episyrphus balteatus), Lunuled Aphideater (Eupeodes luniger) 1♀

Hoverfly - Greater Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)

Greater Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria) Size: 15.5-19.5mm Flight: May-Nov

Species of the week – 6^th October

This is our largest hoverfly (In the U.K) and if you have seen one you can probably understand why it’s often mistaken for the European hornet Vespa crabo, and with good reason. Its markings mimic the hornet in both colouration and design, a classic example of Batesian mimicry. However, this hornet mimic will not sting, bite or get aggressive defending a nest, as it doesn’t have one and is often seen late summer and into autumn on a warm day.

 

A Wilder Future for the Uplands

Unleashing the Power of Nature to Recover & Restore the Countryside

Thought of the week is slightly different this week because over the last few days I have been at a conference, in Sheffield, about the uplands. Listening to many passionate speakers debate the state of the uplands and what needs to be done to restore them. 

https://www.ukeconet.org/wilder-future-for-the-uplands.html