St Mark's Fly Bibio marci Taking a Break

e6filmuser

I was in deciduous woodland three days ago. In one partially shaded spot there was a large pile of felled tree trunks rotting away. It was quite a clamber as I looked for mushrooms.

On the upper side of one trunk I saw a black insect which looked like a wasp ovipositing in the wood. A closer look showed it to be a male bibionid. I had no idea whether it had only settled momentarily so I grabbed my camera and had no time to sort out flash. Although the fly moved around quite a bit, if very slowly, I managed to get some shots, the IS not coping with all of them. The official size range is 10-15mm.

Olympus EM-1 (aperture priority), Olympus 4/3 x2 TC, Olympus 4/3 50mm f2 macro, 1/20 or 1/10 at f8, ISO 800, hand-held.

Harold

Lord Vetinari

Like #3
Brian V.

e6filmuser

Thanks, Brian.

That's more of a classic shot. I hoped the others would show something about its behaviour but, so far, I'm no wiser.

Harold

GOLDENORFE

prefer #2 for me, not seen any yet this year

e6filmuser

Thanks, Phil.

This is their season - late April(ish)

Harold