Fly

Two very different flies have caught my attention in the last few days, for different reasons.  The first fly is not actually a fly at all, but a member of the order of 'true bugs'.  Proliferating at a stupendous rate during the current warm weather, Greenfly are the gardeners' nightmare.  The problem is exacerbated by their extraordinary ability to multiply.  Female aphids can give birth asexually, to young aphids which already have their own offspring, growing within them.  So, in effect, a 'mother' aphid gives birth to her daughters and granddaughters at the same time.

This individual female was rather 'fat' and obviously full of yet more young, just waiting to get their voracious, piercing mouth-parts into our garden plants.

The second fly was part of the order Diptera or true flies.  Known as either Dance Flies or, more sinisterly as Assassin Flies, the Empis livida looks rather frightening in close-up.

The adult flies are in possession of some fearsome mouth-parts with which it eats almost anything from nectar to other insects.  In that respect they might prove rather useful at the moment in keeping the population of other insects down.