Royston Heath Butterflies etc

We visited Royston Heath on the hottest day so far and the butterflies responded by flying around pretty freely though in small numbers compared to a 'normal' year. The Essex Skipper and Gatekeeper were in pristine condition but some of the others were fairly battered and the Marbled White had the worst infestation of mites I've seen. We finished the morning photographing these Kite-tailed Robber flies mating.

Toft Invertebrates (3)

Latest batch of Toft invertebrates including a Caddis fly larva with a very smart case that it has built and glued together! Still not officially identified the transparent tube in the second image - snail eggs have been suggested but looks more like a shed skin. The Bee Fly was hovering - photo taken at 1/8000th has just about stopped wing motion. Finishing with a small mite from the pond.