Portrait of a Small Bristle Fly

A member of a family of parasitic flies that help control insect pests.

I'm not entirely happy with this shot. I was carrying out an experiment when my camera, which has had an intermittent fault for a long time, suddenly packed it in. I had hoped to improve on the clarity of the focus. Large

A large bristle fly

A different small bristle fly

The problem is with the lens. I suspect there is dust preventing it from opening and closing smoothly. On other occasions I have managed to get it open to clean the outside of the barrel and to brush the space around it. So far this time I have not been able to get it open sufficiently.

The humidity is high today. I'm hoping it will be cooperative when the air is dryer.