Francis Hickenbottom’s Nature Notes.
19th August 2010
I picked up a dead fly recently and could see that it would make a good subject for a watercolour.
I was watching some large hoverflies (Volucella pellucens) a week or two ago at Ackworth and thought that I had found one of these when I first spotted the fly. There are some similarities between the hoverfly and the fly which I spotted but the hoverflies have a large pale section on the abdomen, just behind the thorax, and a dark patch on each wing.
It’s no coincidence that I was at Llandigige when I found the fly because this species lays its eggs in dung, so it is commonly found where cattle are kept. The larvae don’t eat the dung, instead they feed on the larvae of other fly species.
This fly is actually one which is commonly known as a noon fly. Its scientific name is Mesembrina meridiana and it gets its common name because it likes to bask in the sun, so it can be seen sitting on walls and posts in the middle of the day.