The dance fly Rhamphomyia longipes

Now that summer proper is here more insects turn up in Wbx. This morning I noticed the green bottle Eudasyphora cyanella and a male of the small dancefly, Rhamphomyia longipes, which settled on a leaf from the burgeoning sallow log. As can be seen, these are predatory flies and it is in the subgenus Aclonempis mainly by virtue of its long proboscis.

The small aphid under the leaf in the top photo looks at some risk, but the fly paid no attention to it.

The species is fairly common in the British Isles and there are several records from East Sussex.