Mastodawn

Second one's harder. A tiny black fly, likely in the subfamily Empidinae, the dance flies.

Nailing the species is tough – Wikipedia has an image of Rhamphomyia umbripennis which looks almost identical, but they're not common. There are few shots on iNaturalist, where they typically have redder eyes.

Do the feathery hind legs help narrow it down? 🧐

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spectrakel 14m ago

#flower #photography #closeup #plants #macrophotography #garden #smartphonephotography

Guido Bibra 17m ago

Balcony Flowers 2026 #33
#photography #balconyflowers #geraniums #naturephotography #flowerphotography #macro #macrophotography
https://foto.bibra-medien.de/2026/04/04/balcony-flowers-2026-33/

Mark McCaughrean 18m ago

A couple of bonus flies from the garden today – it was cloudy & dark, & while not cold, it wasn't warm either.

The first one seems fairly clear: it's a heleomyzid fly (🇩🇪 Scheufliege), Suillia variegata. Pretty patterns on the thorax.

First picture is a macro stack, while the second is a single image taken a bit closer, showing the compound eye nicely.

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Devriese 1h ago

Belgium, Wemmel : Norway maple ( Sapindaceae, Acer platanoides ) #belgium #wemmel #beverbos #tree #norwaymaple #nature #flowering #naturephotography #macrophotography

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Mark McCaughrean 1h ago

This much smaller shield bug was perched on a nearby leaf at the same time, but fell off (!) when a gust of wind came by, meaning I didn't get such good pictures.

This one is a woundwort shield bug (Stagonomus venustissimus; 🇩🇪 Schillerwanze).

Mark McCaughrean 1h ago

Ok, it's time for Mark's "Fun with shield bugs".

It can be very confusing telling the many species apart, especially the nymphs, which change a lot as they mature.

But ... I think this large one is a northern fruit bug (Carpocoris fuscispinus; 🇩🇪 Nördliche Fruchtwanze), not C. mediterraneus (too far north) or C. purpureipennis (no black shoulders).

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