St. Mark's Fly from the UK

Insect we saw hiking in England
Location: England, Yorkshire Dales and Yorkshire Moors
August 8, 2011 12:01 am
We saw these hiking in the moors where there seem to be moisture (standing water or mud) and some present of ferns, but not always. Late July, early August. These insects would fly about us and often in front of us as we walked. They did not appear to want to land on us but were ”curious” or looking for a mate? We saw pairs of these insects often buzzing around each other mid flight for short periods of time. We saw a few on the ground where they seemed to stay motionless for some time. A type of wasp? Thank.
Signature: Travelmarx

Hi Travelmarx,
This is a male St. Mark’s Fly or Heather Fly in the Bionidae.  Males have much larger heads and larger eyes than females.  You can see all the research we have done on this insect by viewing this old posting from our archives.  Related Flies in the southern U.S. are called Love Bugs because they are often found in the mating position.