Martin Harvey's blog

I've added a new page called "Projects" that will allow me to highlight any particular species or sites for which the recording scheme is seeking information.

Data from the Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme, along with data from many other recording schemes, has recently featured in two prize-winning conference posters.

To see all the bee-fly-watch records from 2017 go to our 'activity' page on iRecord, and add

We're running a workshop on the identification of soldierflies and allies in Oxford on Sunday 27 September. This is an indoor workshop, where there will be the opportunity to work with the museum's microscopes and insect collections to familiarise yourself with the full range of species, and practice keying things out. Full details are available at:

Bee-flies will be out any day now, and to celebrate Buglife have a great bee-fly feature as their 'Bug of the month'. Don't forget to check the recording scheme's bee-fly page as well, complete with downloadable identification guide.

Nigel Jones has been shooting (in the photographic sense) a great series of photos of the Southern Silver-stiletto (Therevidae: Cliorismia rustica) and its habitat.

Visit Jonathan Neal's blog to see a superb close-up by Fabrice Parais of the delicate, feathery respiratory hairs at the tip of a soldier-fly larva. The photo won an honorable mention at the 2014 Nikon Small World photographic competition.

Newsletter no. 2 for the Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme has now been distributed to DF members, and is also available to download or read online.

Many thanks to all who have contributed to this issue - there are some fascinating insights into the species. Contents include:

The much-anticipated second edition of "British soldierflies and their allies" has now been published – hurrah!

The recording scheme guide to bee-flies in genus Bombylius (PDF download) has been updated this month to include some extra photos of the Western Bee-fly, Bombylius canescens.