Sawfly

Another new 'tick' this morning as we walked around the lakes of Straw's Bridge. Gloriously sunny once more, though a little cooler than of late, we met this little creature on the flower heads of Angelica (Angelica sylvestris).

These rather lovely plants - members of the carrot family - were buzzing with flies of all sorts, but a few particularly colourful ones caught my eye.

Closer inspection and a brief search of the Internet revealed them to be Large Rose Sawflies (Arge pagana).

Common and widespread throughout Britain, their larvae feed on wild and cultivated roses.  The same larvae are also commonly parasitised by parasitic wasps and eaten by other creatures.

This new tick, brings my invertebrates life list to 226, so still a long way to go!