General discussion

hello. I found Conops flavipes last week in East Lothian, Scotland. There is one other record (from the same area in 2022) in iNaturalist but

Scottish records may be missing from NBN ? Does anyone know if there are any other records or if flavipes is moving north?

Quadrifasciatus is fairly common.  Thanks, David

Hi,

Does anyone have a copy of Blackith, R. and R. Blackith 1993. Diptera (Insecta) attracted to the Dragon's mouth lily (Dracunculus vulgaris Schott) in Ireland. Bulletin of the Irish biogeographical Society 16: 2-7?

I'm putting together a similar article, covering insects attracted to and trapped by this species in Wales. The Blackith and Blackith paper seems very relevant, but doesn't seem to be available online. I'd like to at least get some idea of the content of the paper before buying a back issue of the bulletin.

Thanks,

Mike

I found what looks like the Dolichopodid L. virens but seems odd from an Edinburgh garden, although the cross vein m-cu seems to be in the right place

and the fly was about 5-6mm. Photos from 28th April. If anyone can clarify for me that would be great, thanks, David

Imantimyia sylvatica (I think) collected from Ardnamona Woods, 5km North of Donegal Town, Co Donegal, Republic of Ireland. Date: 16.iv.2023. I'm not familiar with this species if anyone could confirm that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Recently I came across 2019 records of Opomyzidae from Leicestershire originating via iRecord from  C Cathrine & N Currie who used a range of methods.  These records do not appear in the County database and I was wondering if anyone was familiar with the recorders and how to get in touch with them to find out more information about their local work.

Any leads would be welcome!

Ray Morris

If anyone has any records for Heleomyzidae and Trixoscelididae from 2022, please could they be added to iRecord or sent to me on syrphus@hotmail.co.uk asap...keen to get things tidied up before the new season gets busy.

I've been collating the records of Sciaridae in VC55 Leicestershire & Rutland and came across the excellent review of British species produced by Menzel, Smith & Chandler in 2006 which included survey work they did in VC55 in 2003. A follow-up came from the 8th International Congress of Dipterology (2014). Both mentioned work towards a new Handbook of this family to replace the severely out-of-dat RES Handbook on Mycetophilidae which included the Sciaridae by Freeman.

Hi all,

In the process of organising a collecting permission I've been asked for a public liability insurance certificate. 

I understand that as an affiliated orgnisation of the BENHS we have public liability insurance for members. 

Does anyone know how I would go about getting a copy of the certificate?

Many thanks,

Sam 

The email address for David Gibbs in the latest Bulletin (No.94) is not working.  Is he still able to deal with enquiries about Pipunculidae does anyone know?  How can I contact him?

For any muscid-lovers out there, the big genus Phaonia (currently 47 British species) has just been added to my Flickr site:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/collections/72157632827499245/. All but 4 species get at least basic photographic coverage, and all 47 species get a species account (click 'show more'). Most are not so difficult once you get your eye in though I could do with seeing more material of the lugubris/meigeni/morio/consobrina/subfuscinervis quagmire (I've yet to see a genuine meigeni as currently defined).