Which damsel fly and fly ?

[BarbaraEmma]

Looking around by my little pond I took these photos,now even I know they're Damsel flies, but which ones ? The beautiful little green fly I'm assuming is a Greenbottle. Please enlighten me.

[Fourwings]

Large Red Damselfly - ovipositing pair
Large Red Damselfly - female
Azure Damselfly - male
Greenbottle

[BarbaraEmma]

Thanks very much for identifying them for me Fourwings.The Azure damsel fly was the one I was really not certain of,all of them are such beautiful little things to have flying around in my garden. Barbara

[Jason Green]

Yes, your last fly is in the Calliphoridae family. It may be a Lucilia sp., but the size of the white part under the wing is well-developed, and has a fairly notable silvery face. To speculate, I may consider the Northern Blowfly Protophormia terraenovae, but that is just speculation! Do you have an exact side-on shot? I remember seeing one last year - fairly big and loud! Ring a bell?

[BarbaraEmma]

Jason , The only other shot of it I managed is not very good but it is a side view.

I doubt that's clear enough.What exactly would you need to look for ?

[Jason Green]

Hi Barbs,

This is mine...

04/09/2008

...not too sure what I'm looking for to confirm it, but jist-wise it looks good. Quite probably it would need physical examination of a specimen - - but it's more distinctive than most 'little green jobs'! It's chunky, stands tall with the femurs right underneath and has prominent calypters.

[BarbaraEmma]

Yes that's the one ,and what great photos too.So clear you can see he's smiling for the camera. The day after I took these there was a blue one in the garden ,identical size and shape,no photo sorry. Barbara.