Dolichopodidae - the Long-legged Flies

This course is fully booked on this date but you can join the waiting list (by scrollling to the bottom of the page) in case space becomes available or it is run on another date.

Many of these brightly coloured and elegant little flies are found in wetlands and woodlands where they can commonly be seen sitting on leaves and rocks in the dampest places such as stream beds and margins, while others prefer resting on tree trunks. Our increasing knowledge of their habitat requirements makes them excellent indicators of habitat conditions, while the males' fancy legs, ornate body, and intricate courtship makes these predatory creatures particularly interesting subjects for behavioural studies.

Identification of the c.300 British species does not have to be daunting, and new keys will be presented to complement the standard guides. The course is aimed at those with some grounding in smaller Diptera, and by the end of the course it should be possible to place specimens readily to genus, with a knowledge of the pitfalls at species level in the.more awkward groups.

Martin Drake is current organiser of the national recording scheme for the family.

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