New Longhorn / One-horned Longhorn

I took a stroll around Low Barns LNR at Witton le Wear, and wasn't too optimistic about finding much to photograph. It was quite a cool day, with the threat of rain, and very breezy. Breeze is the enemy of the macro-photographer. Even with flash to assist, it's often impossible to even get focus on some tiny creature clinging to a swaying leaf.

I was over the moon therefore, to find these longhorn beetles on a magically sheltered hawthorn.

 

This is Rhagium mordax, one of the larger longhorn beetles, the female here would be getting on for an inch in length, nose to tail. Despite it being a common species, they've always eluded me, so it was good to finally see them and get a few decent shots. Apparently they're a fast running species, known as the "barklöpare" (bark runner) in Sweden, so I was lucky to find this pair concentrating on something other than running about.

They soon separated, but the male posed for a few more photos before flying off. I later realised that he had lost an antenna, making him a one-horned longhorn.

 

Buzz, Whine or Hover Under The Influence of Heat

There's (an imaginary) prize for anyone who understands what the title of this post alludes to...

However, this entry finds me slightly outside of my stated geographical patch. 
I was in the Lake District, on Keldas at the southern end of Ullswater. There's a small rocky 'turret' there with vegetation on top, and I found a good number of Sericomyia lappona buzzing about. There must have been a few dozen individuals present on an area of raised ground just a few yards across.

This is actually the first time I've (knowingly) encountered this species of hoverfly, so I began happily taking photographs, but soon became aware of a high pitched whining noise, somewhat like a mosquito. I soon realised that this was being made by the flies. When landing on the rocks and vegetation they were in an 'open winged' position, but upon closing the wings, they began emitting the high pitched sound.
The flies were very active, rarely landing for more than 30 seconds, but several times I witnessed the stationary 'singing' ones being approached by others flying. They would then embark on a brief paired flight, before separating.
The whole scene was fascinating. The flies had gathered in a very small area (I saw none at all anywhere else, even just a few feet further down the slope), and assume it was connected with courtship activity.