I met a new friend today which I hadn't seen before, wings folded along its long slim black body and black head, quite long black feelers, white dots on its back, and white spots about half way down its feelers,it was about an inch long. I had a quick search, but haven't identified it yet and I didn't actually see it fly it was in a flower pot I was weeding.

NB

Work your way through these pages of images........

http://www.dipteristsforum.org.uk/gallery.php?cid=2

Thank you for trying Alan, I worked my way though all 15 pages - it was nothing like those, it was more like a black solitary wasp, the head roundish, a pair of fine feelers, quite long and with a bead like white spot half way along each feeler, the body was quite long not waisted, about the circumferance of a wasp at the widest point some white spots on the top of the back, not striped. The wings were folded along the length of it's body. It was a good inch long, legs were black similar to beetle / wasp length too, not long like a cranefly. I was gardening and looked up when steve called me for a cuppa, when I looked back again it had gone, quite fast moving I think. Never saw anything like it before.

I'll have a shot at an Ichneuman wasp. It was the ref' to the white spots halfway down the feelers. Very much a garden freind. Cheers, Tony.

Nice try Kleftiwalla, close but the insect was not as waisted not coloured either, no red brown or yellow totally black including legs. except for a few white spots on its back and the white in the feelers was pronounced like a little tiny white bead like joint in the middle of the feeler, not a white band just a single spot. It had no ovipositor so might be a male.
This is getting to me, I looked at loads of insect sites and ID is still eluding me.

Hi NB,

Sounds more like a Sawfly. They are not waisted, and many of them are black.

Thank you PJ. It was definitely all black about an inch long with a few white spots as previously described,
but similar shape to this green yellow and black sawfly.

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/pictu ... hoto/86391

My partner is a bit of an expert on insects and he also said it sounded like a sawfly. Apparently there are lots of different ones and they are quite variable so difficult to be specific without close examination.

Thank you Plumpudding, finding one exactly the same still eludes me, I must buy another camera and keep it handy when I'm in the garden.