I’m no saint but it is St Mark’s Day.
Keep an eye open for St Mark’s Flies – with their black hairy bodies and dangling legs – not like me at all. Although before we mucked about with the calendar this would have been around 4 May rather than now – but with global warming everything is getting earlier so I guess you may find some now if you are lucky and look hard!
More on St Mark’s flies here, here and here.
With which species would you like to share a name? And what would be the names most appropriate for well known figures?
How about: George Osborne’s Leech, Usain Bolt’s Swift, Humble’s Katydid and the MI5 Bug? I’m sure you can do much better – please do!
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They were around last weekend at Wicken
How about “{insert any politician’s name} Lyrebird ?
RE. St Mark’s flies see also my article in tomorrow’s Guardian!
Likely to be posted this evening here http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/series/country-diary+profile/matt-shardlow
The Morley weevil was named after the minister in charge when its main population on Canvey Wick was threatened with destruction. His agencies subsequently protected the site as an SSSI (although probably not a direct cause and effect). We did not know at the time that Elliot Morley was in the ship’s biscuits!
Yesterday (2nd May) after the rain I thought that plantain in the long grass by the river in Brecon was coming up to flower. I then realised it was St Mark’s flies, females presumably, at or near the tops of the leaves and stems of the vegetation and the males were ‘dancing’ above them. There were very few females lower down, though whether this was to get to the males or to avoid the wet I don’t know. Maybe both!