| Flies
      Top l to r: greater bulb fly, St Marks fly; bottom l to r: green lacewing, bluebottle© Top (both images): Roger Key/English Nature; bottom l to r: Dr Chris Gibson/English Nature, Bob GibbonsNumerous species of fly may be found in most gardens, providing food for dragonflies, damselflies, common frogs, common toads, spiders and many birds, including specialists feeders like the spotted flycatcher and the pied flycatcher and aerial hawkers like the house martin, swallow and swift. Pipistrelle and other bat species will also take many flies. Some fly larvae such as that of the cluster-fly feed on living animal matter, in this case the common earthworm. Hoverfly larvae eat huge numbers of aphids. Other larvae live in water and provide food for diving beetles and dragonfly nymphs. The larva of the familiar cranefly or daddy long legs - the leatherjacket - is a favourite food of the starling. Many adult flies live on vegetable matter and most cause little or no damage to garden plants: others perform a useful garden function in killing aphids. PlantsBurnet-saxifrage, Butterbur, Californian poppy, Caryopteris, Cherry laurel, Common butterwort, Common meadow-rue, Common toadflax, Coneflower, Corn marigold, Cosmos, Daisy, Devil's-bit scabious, Dill, English stonecrop, Feverfew, Fox-and-cubs, French marigold, Goldenrod, Greater bladderwort, Hairy greenweed, Hedgerow crane's-bill, Heliotrope, Hoary mullein, Irish fleabane, Italian lords-and-ladies, Large-flowered butterwort, Large thyme, Lesser calamint, Lesser stitchwort, Ligularia, Lords-and-ladies, Marsh cinquefoil, Meadow buttercup, Mexican orange, New Zealand holly, Nipplewort, Oxlip, Pale butterwort, Pennyroyal, Perforate St John's-wort, Pignut, Purple toadflax, Ramsons, Ribwort plantain, Rock samphire, Roseroot, Scented mayweed, Scentless mayweed, Shasta daisy, Smooth cat's-ear, Sneezewort, Spignel, Spiked speedwell, Spindle, Tansy, Traveller's-joy, Water figwort, Water forget-me-not, Water-plantain, Wayfaring tree, Yarrow, Yarrow, Yarrow PredatorsBlackcap, Blue tit, Cantharis pellucida, Chiffchaff, Coal tit, Common damselbug, Common darter dragonfly, Common frog, Common lizard, Common red soldier beetle, Common wasp, Crevice spider, Cucumber green spider, Dance fly, Daubenton's bat, Devil's coach-horse, Dolichovespula media, Dragonflies and damselflies, Dunnock, Four-spotted chaser dragonfly, Garden orb-web spider, Garden warbler, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Grey wagtail, Hister unicolor, Hornet, House martin, House spider, Large red damselfly, Lesser spotted woodpecker, Linnet, Long-tailed tit, Marsh tit, willow tit, Meadow pipit, Misumena vatia, Natterer's bat, Nuthatch, Philonthus politus, Red ant, Red-headed cardinal beetle, Redpoll, Redstart, Reed bunting, Robin, Siskin, Southern hawker dragonfly, Spotted flycatcher, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tent spider, Tetragnatha extensa, Treecreeper, Whiskered bat, Whitethroat, Window spider, Wren, Xysticus cristatus, Zebra spider FliesBee fly, Bluebottle, Brown lacewing, Chloromyia formosa, Cluster fly, Common green colonel fly, Common stiletto fly, Dance fly, Drone fly, Eriothrix rufomaculata, Greater bulb fly, Green lacewing, Greenbottle, Helophilus pendulus, Marmalade hoverfly, Microchrysa polita, Myathropa florea, Nephrotoma quadrifaria, Noon fly, Platystoma seminationis, September cranefly, St Mark's fly, Syrphus ribesii, Volucella bombylans, Xylota segnis |
