Roll your eyes to heaven and curse every name

So in my first light trapping session of the year I caught a couple of leaf hoppers, which to my mind look really distinctive and I assumed would be a doddle to put a name to.

Off I went to the British Bugs website and had a look at some images. I was pretty confident that I had a leafhopper in the genus Idiocerus but a quick read was clear to point out that these were quite a difficult genus to separate. Closest I could get was to Idiocerus lituratus but that didn't look quite right so I decided to ask for some help.

This is what I was looking at....

The Facebook Hemiptera group was very helpful. So this is Acericerus ribauti but used to be in the genus Idiocerus. This is one of two species found on maple, which also makes sense as I had put the trap between two field maples. It was first recorded in the UK in 2007 and is now a pretty common species across the UK.

I also had a couple of flies to ID. I find these really difficult but I guess like anything else it's just a matter of perseverance and practice. I remember being baffled by beetle terminology a couple of years ago and now I can take your shagreened elytral sculpture  and raise you a rugose pronotal edging any day of the week!

With the first fly, I hit a right good bit of luck. Skev, on his very good (=much better) blog had keyed what looked suspiciously like the same fly. It at least gave me some pointers and especially the info on where I might find a key. After a couple of mistakes and some keying of both ways on occasion, not to mention a lot of looking at images online, I reckoned mine was also a Phaonia tuguriorum.

With the second fly I am currently at an impasse and will have another crack tomorrow, but if anyone wants to add any pointers in the meantime then please do...

I was so overcome by peering down the microscope at flies that I decided to invest in the new guide to blow flies given that I find quite a few when I'm using putrid flesh to attract beetles. I also, and I can't state this emphatically enough, cannot resist buying a new book. Pretty much my only remaining addiction. Well that and the other one.

The title inspiration comes from the Irish band the Dying Seconds. Great song and quite a cool video too.