moth flies and macro

 

13th May - lucky for some

Serendipity. I went looking for one thing and came across another. Well lots of others. The weather was yet again fairly unspectacular so I went to the Brunstane Burn path. Cycling here last year Mary and I came across a sunny spot that had longhorn moths (and holly blues) on a bush at shoulder height. I hoped I would find them again this year, to photograph with the macro lens. I put the camera into a panier and set off.

It was misty along the prom and while I couldn't be arsed getting out my large camera to record the haary shoreline I felt it deserved to be recorded. You may not realise it but there is a camera facility on most smart phones. Okay that was a joke, but I use it so seldom and have such a poor opinion of smart phones that I often forget about the camera on it. I tried to zoom in slightly by doing that opening pinch movement and the camera must have interpreted that as 'try to focus on the insect flying past'. Entirely apt but just a happy accident...

I cycled to the end of the cyclepath at Musselburgh and then went upstream. I recognised where we'd stopped and taken photos last year and sure enough the sun was falling on the same foliage. Although there were some sunbathing insects, there was no sign of either longhorns or holly blues. Oh well, it was quite nice out and there were some flies posing, so let's see what they look like close up.

Phaonia (subventa?)

speckled wood

Fannia lustrator or delia radicum or neither!

Mydaea (or as above)

Phaonia subventa or Thricops semicinereous or not

as above

Mydaea

speckled wood

Muscid fly

After a while I moved a bit up the cyclepath to this evergreen hedge. It seemed like a good spot to take fly photos. The flies were enjoying sitting on the glossy leaves and they made a good backdrop for photos. There was a good variety of insects and near constant supply. They keep flying off when you approach closely with the 60mm macro (which requires being very close to get maximum details) so it is useful to have lots of flies to hand.

I had to padlock my bike. Although most people going past were friendly and did not look like bike thieves I would get totally absorbed in the process and find I was a hundred yards away from my bike which anyone could have jumped on and riden away without me noticing. In the zone. It is a sign of deep enjoyment. It occurs when running, playing musical instruments, being creative and taking photos. It is possibly humans at their best, or doing the things that occupy them best. Hours can pass like minutes. My eyes are fairly rubbish and I require reading glasses for anything small and close up. You can adjust the diopter in the camera viewfinder to accommodate this so I don't need to wear specs to see these tiny creatures sharply. It is like being given new eyes that work perfectly and opens up an entire world of fascinating creatures. They are not always as pretty as butterflies but really compelling and there are so many variations. Best new toy ever.

Anthomyia

Again, I am new to this sport and unfamiliar with all the names of these insects. I have used google lens to identify them which is fairly unreliable but might be an approximate ballpark. To be honest I don't expect to ever know all the right names and that is not really my interest here. I am taking their photos for art, not science. Also I'm betting they don't know their own names or think that matters. I find them visually fascinating, which is enough to get this journey started. I have bought a large book of insects and will continue to try to ID the things I take pics of. But it is not the raison d'être.

Anthomyia

Mydaea, maybe Phaonia (subventa?)

Lucilia

common leaf weevil

Lucilia

Argyra

Leucozona lucorum

moth fly (wtf skullface?)

Philodromus

Microtendipes - non-biting midge

I was really pleased with these photos as this nearly transparent small mosquito-like thing flew off into the undergrowth. I followed it in there and valiantly ignored things vegetable and animal poking into my head and ears, while struggling to get the fly into focus and not the plant or background. I didn't really notice the attractive background till much later, although I did see those impressive feathery antennae on its head. Or as the scientists say rather flatly: males have plumose antennae.

Philodromus

moth fly

If you bumped into or shook a leaf or branch on this hedge, flies would fall out. In particular there were these small - very small -  fluffy white specs. They would relocate nearby often crawling under leaves. They are so small you could inhale and swallow them without noticing. Obviously a challenge to see what they look like when you go in closer. I had maybe seen them before but never actually noticed them before. Also they seemed to have a slight iridescence when you got in close. It wasn't very sunny but the diffused flash sometimes caught or produced colours on their otherwise grey wings. I didn't find out till later they are called a number of things, most not very charming - drain flies, sewer flies, sink flies and sewer gnats. Psychodidae. Their short hairy bodies giving them the name moth flies. At first I wasn't very impressed but the challenge to get in closer and get a decent pic really made me take notice of them, until I was brushing butterflies, bees and hoverflies out the way to focus on them to try to get a revealing image.

Epistrophe

video, underlining the difficulties of keeping focus
at this scale

I cycled home via the path through Gilberston and up to Duddingston, 

head full of tiny creatures.