First sighting for 150 years of fly thought to be extinct

Expert naturalist finds metallic-green coloured Rhaphium pectinatum in Devon Wildlife Trust nature reserve

A fly that is thought to have been extinct for almost 150 years has been found alive in Devon.

The last known recording of the Rhaphium pectinatum fly was on 19 July 1868 when the renowned Victorian entomologist George Verrall caught a male and female in Richmond, Surrey.