Something you can't fail to notice whilst walking by the hedgerows and fields in Lepton are the large numbers of the Hawthorn fly or as it always appears around the 25th April Saint Marks day, the Saint Marks fly. You must have seen the many black flies with the dangling legs. Like rescue helicopters with hanging ladders hovering before your very eyes. It's an annual spectacle well worth seeing.

The males with the large eyes which have a distinctive horizontal groove enabling the fly to use the upper and lower parts independently. The upper part for female detection and the lower for ground position, both parts with separate connections to the brain. All geared up for that important task to look for a mate. And they haven't a long time to get it done the adults only live for a week or so. The female which you can recognize by her smaller eyes lays eggs in the ground and then she dies. The larvae then lives in the soil feeding on roots and rotting vegetation through the months to emerge as an adult on the feast of Saint Mark to complete the circle. Also please remember these adults feed on nectar in this short time and are considered to be very important pollinators for fruit trees and plants.

It is something that I personally love to see. Hooray for the Saint Marks fly.

Mick.