The Society for the study of flies (Diptera)

The Diptera ("di-ptera" = two-winged) or "true flies" is the largest order of animals in the UK with around 7,000 known species and new ones being discovered every year. They are found in all habitats from the sea shore to mountain tops. Whilst some are agricultural pests or vectors of disease, the great majority are beneficial. They are extremely important as predators on other pests and diseases, as pollinators, as food for other animals and the immature stages of the bulk of the species are involved in the decay of organic matter and the recycling of material back into the soil.

Entomologists who specialise in these insects are "dipterists". In 1993, a group of people who wanted to find out more about every aspect of their lives, including the habitats they require, set up the Dipterists Forum. There is a great deal still to learn about flies. Mapping the distribution of some groups is a major achievement of the Dipterists Forum to date, but the immature stages of the majority of species are still unknown. Many species are becoming increasingly rare as a result of habitat loss and climate change.

Why not join the Dipterists Forum and help us find out more about flies? There is so much still to learn; we welcome beginners and there are always people who can help you out in the early stages. You don’t need to be an expert, or even to leave your own garden, to contribute to our knowledge of these fascinating insects. Flies need your help! Read more ...

• So how do I join?
• Benefits of membership
• Objectives of Dipterists Forum
• Diptera recording schemes

Dipterists Forum is running a four day INTRODUCTORY COURSE ON DIPTERA from Friday 10 August to Tuesday 14 August 2012.

WHO QUALIFIES & COSTS
This course is open to students currently in formal science education (either undergraduate or post-graduate) or those who have graduated within the past five years. Fifteen places have been allocated at the specially subsidised rate of £160
We have also recognised possible demand from people who would not qualify for the student discount rate and have therefore allocated a further 5 places at the rate of £240 per person.

ACCOMMODATION
This will be at Wells Cathedral School, a venue whose facilities are basic but good value for money. When we stayed previously, the food was excellent. We will be in Ritchie House, which offers basic but comfortable accommodation with separate bathroom facilities. Subsidised participants will be accommodated in twin/triple rooms. Partially-discounted participants will be in single rooms.

CATERING
The meeting will be half board (bed, breakfast and evening meal). Participants will be expected to provide their own lunch.


Inquiries to Roger Morris please

Just to confirm that the spring field meeting in the New Forest will be on the 12/13 May. I will post more details in due course but in the meantime anybody planning to stay might want to find a room close to the Hotel Alan & I are booked into

The Topaz Hotel, 9 St Michael's Road, West Cliff
BOURNEMOUTH
BH2 5DR
01202 553714
Website www.topazhotel.co.uk
e-mail: info@topazhotel.co.uk

Alan and I will be down on the night of 10 May, assuming all goes well and I don't have to stay behind to complete a contract.

Regards

Roger

The interactive version of the Diptera Checklist on this site has had a complete make-over! It now reflects the version updated by Peter Chandler on 7 March 2012, following the updates published in Dipterists Digest 19(1). It is actually slightly more up-to-date than that, because Peter found a couple more corrections (two Ceratopogonids which were on the Irish list, but had not been marked as such - details to follow in the "Corrections and changes" in the next DD) at the last minute.

It has been a long slog, started in January, to convert Peter's Word document into the database behind the web-site. Versions have been backwards and forwards several time between myself and Peter for checking and, hopefully, this extra scrutiny has benefited both the web-site and the published PDF version of the Checklist that is available for download. But, with 14,374 names, 4,059 notes and 1,569 references, I would be surprised if there are not more glitches awaiting discovery.

Anyway, this time, I will try and keep it up-to-date as corrections and changes are published in DD. I don't really want to have to do the conversion from the Word document again if I can help it!

Many thanks are due to Peter for the extra work, above and beyond his normal Herculean efforts in maintaining the checklist, for assiduously checking the enormous database dumps I have showered him with.

Update:
- The number of species in total, in GB and in Ireland, is now shown for each taxon in the hierarchy,
- A plain list of the currently accepted species names, and the family to which they belong, is also available for  download (as a zipped Excel spreadsheet - xls format).

For several years we have run our 'Introduction to Hoverflies' and have used a large number of venues in association with local organisers. We are now thinking of organising a course for 'Improvers'.

Our proposal is to organise a two-day residential course where we can work through the day and part of the evening, thus giving participants as much time as possible to get to grips with difficult taxa.

The centre we have in mind is in Abergavenny, which we think will allow us to offer a course at a reasonable price (between £110 and £130). We will be able to supply around 15 microscopes, so it should be possible to accommodate a reasonable number of people with limited access to a microscope. We think we can probably accommodate up to 25 people at least part of the group will have to bring their own microscope.

We have yet to set a date but are looking at late March or early April 2013 and need to get a feel for likely demand. Anyone who might be interested in this proposal should let me know (roger dot morris at dsl dot pipex dot com).

Regards

Roger

The Spring edition of Dipterists Digest is about to be distributed. However it will only be sent to members who have paid this year's subscription. There are still many members who have not yet paid for 2012. (Subscriptions are due on 1st January each year). I have also noted that a number of members who normally pay by Bankers Order have not yet paid. Please check your bank statements to ensure any instructions you have sent the bank have been acted upon. Subscriptions should be sent to John Showers at the address in the latest Bulletin. The current rates are:
UK:
DF membership and Bulletin  £6pa
Dipterists Digest £9 pa

Overseas:
Only one subscription rate of £20 (Sterling only please) per annum.