The joy of Yellow Dung Flies

This summer I decided to try a little more close-up photography. The obvious subjects were in the field at the back of Einar. The Hogweed which grows there is covered in flies, hoverflies, and these beautiful Yellow Dung Flies, Scathophaga stercoraria.

Apparently the males are furry and yellow, while the females are bristly and green. I clearly need to take more images so I get a better comparison between the sexes.

If I want to be sure which sex it is, I should really look over my garden wall to see what the Yellow Dung Flies on the cowpats in the fields look like. The males will be there in good numbers, resting on cowpats, just waiting for a female to come along. They’re real charmers.