I spotted this very colourful fly in a garden centre outside Gorey some time ago. Have you any idea what it is? Michael Wade, Co Wexford
This is the noonday fly – Mesembrina meridiana – which is most often seen on cow dung, sunbathing on trees, fences and walls in bright sunlight, or visiting flowers to feed on nectar. Eggs are laid in cow dung; the female lays a single egg in up to five cow pats. When they hatch the larvae are carnivorous and feed on other fly larvae within the dung.
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