Central town on wasteland. Another insect day.
Sunny and dry.
This little orange bumblebee was one of several - all the same size - around 12mm long, on the Spear Thistle. The pollen sacs on the legs are clearly full. Do they eat for themselves before they return to the hive?
This beautiful golden Hoverfly flew past and rested on the stem of the Creeping Thistle. Around 15 mm long. Perhaps Epistrophe grossulariae.
I've previously shown a few shots of Dung Flies infected with the Entomophthora fungus. I saw quite a few today on Thistles. All are now in this state where the fungus is gone, leaving just the head, thorax and legs. Notice how the rear legs are fully extended, pushing the body outwards, presumably for better spore dispersal. How a fungus can manage to force a fly to move upwards and adopt this posture is a complete mystery to me. There were even a few instances of these infected flies hanging in much the same spot, their legs overlapping.
