Winter Gnats

On mild winter days dancing clouds of these insects are a common sight, but in fact they are present all the year around. Technically known as Trichoceridae, they are closely related to Craneflies (aka Daddy-Longlegs). I have recorded two species from Byfield Pocket Park. Back in July I found Diazosma hirtipenne and more recently (29 October) I took Trichocera hiemalis from almost the same spot. This second species took the total of insects and spiders recorded there to 426 species. I mention this as a reminder of how valuable our pocket park is to wildlife.  And I have yet to make a serious study of the ants, beetles and moths of the site; what the final total could be is anyone's guess.