Saproxylic

We tend to think of crane-flies as being rather dull-looking creatures, but the Cone-horn Crane-fly Ctenophora pectinicornis, is a spectacular creature, decked out in shiny black, orange and yellow. This species is usually confined to old deciduous woodland, orchards, and other habitats where dying and fallen trees are found, as the larvae feed on dead or decaying wood.

Today was supposed to be a day of recovery and preparation for the next few days, but I ended up dealing with lots of work-related emails and other issues that had miraculously appeared during my three days at Leeds. This wasn't helped by the fact that my computer hard disks were being upgraded, and the data transfer took longer than expected, which meant that I had to do everything by phone or laptop!