Naturalist paid to study rare flies

A fly-loving pensioner is championing the cause of an endangered species of the insect.

Roy Crossley, 70, from Wilberfoss, near York, has been studying rather than swatting flies since the 1950s.

He has now been awarded a grant to study a rare species known by the Latin name Odontomyia hydrolean.

The brightly coloured green and black fly, which only lives for two to three weeks in July, was thought to have been extinct until 15 years ago.

Not a lot of people do this kind of work

Roy Crossley

A colony of the fly with a 14mm wingspan exists in the 8,600-acre Dalby Forest, near Pickering, North Yorkshire with one other in Wales.

Retired bank worker Mr Crossley is being financed in his studies by the Forestry Commission.

He said: "Not a lot of people do this kind of work but that has its advantages.

"If you want to study birds you just have to join the queue.

"But the richness and diversity of the nation's flies is remarkable and fascinating."

Brian Walker of the Forestry Commission, said: "People might ask what's so important about a fly but it is all part of the rich tapestry of life."