Swarms old and new

Last Summer and Autumn I posted about massive swarms of small flies seen around our pine trees.  Following a lot of work by Roger Farrow and Peter Cranston those observations have now been published in Austral Entomology under the title "New austral records of massive swarming by a chloropid fly, Chloromerus striatifrons (Diptera: Chloropidae)".

So far this year they have not reappeared, possibly reflecting the lack of rain in recent months.  

However another swarm appeared last night on our kitchen windows (fortunately outside).  This morning they were still evident on the window ....
 .. and the roof of our veranda.
Here are a couple of images of individuals.  This one is what could best be described as a former individual: its good to see the fly spray works outdoors!
 This one missed the chemical.
Hopefully someone will be able to put a name to it!

I am very pleased I didn't say this was a swarm of flies.  Having been given a hint that they might be Rutherglen Bugs (Nysius vinitor) I can see that they are indeed True Bugs (Hemiptera) rather than Flies (Diptera)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Insects from pine trees

A tour of the West (part 1)

Maslins beach rules