I saw a fly...

...a sawfly

The Chambres d'Hotes that we stayed at last night was wonderful. Such a beautiful French house full of wonderful French things and run by a super friendly French couple. Unfortunately, my choice of location was not the best I have ever made, as it meant our route to Calais was via Paris which, even midweek, proved to be choked by traffic queues getting onto and off the Périphérique and lost us thirty minutes, all 0f which meant we were on the train after the one we had originally booked through le tunnel sous la Manche. Nonetheless, we were back in Swanage by 4.30pm where, after an all important brew, I hot footed it to our local nature reserve to bag my daily blipfix.

Yes, it's another fly - though not a true fly, as it is in the same Order as wasps, bees and ants. The Turnip Sawfly Athalia rosae is surprisingly under photographed as it is quite striking in its own peculiar way. Unfortunately, their larvae, like most sawfly larvae, are highly destructive of cultivated plants, both commercial and ornamental.

After two days of driving, we are pretty tired but I will endeavour to catch up on commenting as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, I have back-blipped for yesterday here...