Coma Butterfly - Flesh Fly - 4 September 2024

During my short walk today I spotted two interesting bugs basking in the sun.

I knew the first one because I'd written about this brightly coloured butterfly here. I hadn't seen a Coma butterfly, or Polygonia c-album all this time: nearly two years.

The butterfly was on the edge of a street sign near some brambles with lots of blackberries, which I didn't pick because of the traffic nearby. Also I didn't want to disturb the butterfly too much so I only took a quick photo of it.

The second type of bug that I spotted during my walk was definitely not so cute, but it was very striking. It was a big fly with bright coloured eyes and big feet :

_{The fly was nearly 2 cm in size}

Thanks to Google Lens I quickly identified it at home. This type of Flesh fly, or Sarcophaga Carnaria was also basking in the sign near the butterfly. I thought at the time both creatures are bugs, but we tend to prefer the most striking colours of butterflies. The eyes of the Flesh Fly were just as distinctive as the orange colour of the Coma butterfly.

I was struck by the descriptive name of this bug Sarcophaga Carnaria. I read here that this type of fly is found near rotting meat, hence the name, dung or faeces. I suppose that makes them much less attractive than butterflies but they are still performing a function of helping matter degrade.

Thank you for reading !