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Tag Archives: British hoverflies

Three more hoverflies

06 Saturday Mar 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British hoverflies, Episyrphus balteatus, Eristalis tenax, hoverfly, Meliscaeva auricollis, spring hoverflies

These three are often the first hoverflies seen in the springtime as they all over-winter as adults, so it’s no surprise that I’ve now seen these three species as well my first for 2021, the Melanostoma scalare I blogged about 10 days ago (First hoverfly, 25 February). We’ll need a bit more sun and warmer temperatures before more hoverflies are out and about though.

210306 Episyrphus balteatusEpisyrphus balteatus

210306 eristalis tenaxEristalis tenax

210306 Meliscaeva auricollisMeliscaeva auricollis

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First hoverfly

25 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by sconzani in spring

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Alexanders, British hoverflies, Chequered hoverfly, first hoverfly of year, hoverfly, Melanostoma scalare

Yesterday’s exercise walk was a long meander around local paths looking for wildflowers in bloom (those pictures will be coming on Sunday), and in the process I spotted my first hoverfly of the year, this tiny Chequered hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare), nectaring on Alexanders. With temperatures forecast to rise and the prospect of some sunshine over the coming days, I’m hoping for more … and maybe even my first butterfly of the year. Fingers crossed!

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365/366 2020 insects

30 Wednesday Dec 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British hoverflies, British insects, British leafhoppers, Cicadella viridis, Helophilus trivittatus, hoverfly larva, Italian Alder aphid, leafhopper

These are some of the highlights of my year in insects:

201230 hoverfly larva

I found my First hoverfly larva (and I’ve since found another, though not been able to identify either) …

201230 helophilus trivittatus

… and my first examples of the hoverfly species Helophilus trivittatus.

201230 Crypturaphis grassii

And, very recently, my first Italian Alder aphids, which I’ve since found on another Italian Alder tree on the other side of town.

201230 cicadella viridis

Here’s one I haven’t blogged – it’s a leafhopper, Cicadella viridis, which I saw for the first time during one of the two times this year that I actually caught a train to venture out of my local walking area (this was immediately after our first lockdown ended, when I dared to make two local train journeys – not been on a train or bus since).

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261/366 Searching the scabious, 2

17 Thursday Sep 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, wildflowers

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British butterflies, British hoverflies, British insects, butterflies, Devil's-bit scabious, hoverflies, insects on scabious

One of the side benefits of searching the scabious for rare bees (see yesterday’s piece, Searching the scabious, 1) is that my search also revealed how many other insects were enjoying the essential late summer-early autumn food supply provided by the beautiful wildflower, Devil’s-bit scabious. Amongst them were these five butterflies and a moth: Large white, Red admiral, Small copper, Small tortoiseshell, Small white and a Silver Y.

200917 butterfly large white
200917 butterfly red admiral
200917 butterfly small copper
200917 butterfly small tortoiseshell
200917 butterfly small white
200917 moth silver y

And also these five hoverflies: Eristalis intricarius, Helophilus trivittatus, Sericomyia silentis, Volucella pellucens and Volucella zonaria.

200917 hoverfly eristalis intricarius
200917 hoverfly helophilus trivittatus
200917 hoverfly sericomyia silentis
200917 hoverfly volucella pellucens
200917 hoverfly volucella zonaria

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240/366 Helophilus trivittatus

27 Thursday Aug 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Tags

British hoverflies, Helophilus trivittatus, hoverfly

Somehow this splendid hoverfly had passed me by, probably many times, without my noticing its presence in my landscape. It wasn’t until one of my Twitter pals (thank you, Tate) posted a photo of his recent sighting at Cosmeston Lakes that I thought ‘Hang on a minute. Why haven’t I seen that?’, and duly set out to find one.

200827 helophilus trivittatus (1)

And, like buses, once one comes along, a whole fleet is soon whizzing past.

200827 helophilus trivittatus (2)

One of the possible reasons I hadn’t noticed it before is because it’s a migratory species so perhaps there haven’t been as many around in previous years.

200827 helophilus trivittatus (3)

Also, Helophilus trivittatus looks a lot like its close relative Helophilus pendulus, but H. trivittatus is actually much more lemon-yellow in colour, and it’s a little longer in the body (which is noticeable once you get your eye in), and it doesn’t have the black stripe down the centre of its face that the other Helophilus species have.

200827 helophilus trivittatus (4)

This handsome hoverfly tends to be found in coastal areas or, as it prefers a damp habitat, along the routes of Britain’s main river systems in the southern half of Britain.

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170/366 Misc hoverflies

18 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

British hoverflies, Cheilosia illustrata, Chrysotoxum bicinctum, Episyrphus balteatus, Eupeodes corollae, Helophilus pendulus, hoverfly, Sphaerophoria scripta, Volucella pellucens, Xanthogramma pedissequum, Xylota species

Hoverflies seem particularly numerous this year … or maybe it’s just that I’ve been keeping more of an eye out for them. Here are some of the species I’ve clocked in the past couple of weeks. Looking through my photos again now, I’m struck by how diverse these lovely creatures are.

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Volucella bombylans: One of the bumblebee-mimicking hoverflies. This one was snoozing on a cool day, which is how I managed to get a nice close shot.

200618 chrysotoxum bicinctum

Chrysotoxum bicinctum: Its distinctive yellow bars make this hoverfly reasonably easy to identify.

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Episyrphus balteatus: Also known as the Marmalade hoverfly. Despite its small size, this species is known some years to migrate en masse to Britain from continental Europe.

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Eupeodes corollae: These two were otherwise occupied, which allowed me to get quite close to them.

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Helophilus pendulus: The ‘footballer’, because of the striped ‘footballers’ kit’ markings on its abdomen.

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Sphaerophoria scripta: Apparently, the yellow colouration is influenced by the temperature at which the larvae develop, so Spring-born individuals can be darker than those hatching later in the year.

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Volucella pellucens: One of Britain’s larger hoverflies; also known as the Great Pied hoverfly and the Pellucid fly.

200618 xanthogramma pedissequum

Xanthogramma pedissequum: This used to be easy to identify from its distinctive markings but, in 2012, the very similar Xanthogramma stackelbergi was added to the British list so now the thoracic markings need to be carefully checked to ensure the correct identification.

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Xylota species: I didn’t get good enough photos of this one to be able to work out whether this was X. segnis or X. sylvarum – you need very clear views of its hind tibia to work out which is which.

 

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155/366 A new hoverfly

03 Wednesday Jun 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

British hoverflies, Casehill Woods, hoverfly, Volucella inflata

Yesterday’s walk saw me exploring new trails – always exciting as I never know what I might find. I’d walked through part of Casehill Woods a couple of times before but in the winter months, when the ground was sodden and heavy with slippery mud, so it was nice to return for a summer visit – the first of many, I think. I particularly wanted to check out the woodland rides, for butterflies and other beasties – and a beastie is what I found there, a new-to-me and new-to-my-local-10km-recording-square hoverfly, Volucella inflata.

200603 volucella inflata

This gorgeous golden creature favours woodlands, and feeds on the flowers of Bramble and shrubs like Wild privet and Dogwood, so the habitat at Casehill Woods is perfect for it. These hoverflies should be on the wing for a few more weeks yet so I’ll be keeping an eye out for more when next I walk these paths.

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141/366 A Buff-tailed bear

20 Wednesday May 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

British hoverflies, Buff-tailed bear hoverfly, bumblebee mimic, Cogan Wood, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Criorhina floccose, hoverfly

Bear? There are bears in south Wales? No, don’t worry, this Buff-tailed bear is a hoverfly (Criorhina floccose), a new find for me, from my first visit to Cosmeston Lakes Country Park in weeks (due to the Corona virus, the park was closed from 23 March until last Saturday 16 May). I initially thought this hoverfly was a variation of one of the other bumblebee-mimicking hoverflies, Merodon equestris, as they can be found in a wide variety of colours. But my record has been corrected by Mr UK Hoverflies himself, Roger Morris, and I now know the tufts of pale hairs at the sides of its abdomen are one of the main diagnostic features.

200520 Criorhina floccose (1)

These hoverflies are fashioned to mimic Common carder bees – see comparison photos below, hoverfly on the left, Common carder bee on the right. I think the hoverfly deserves an A for effort!

200520 Criorhina floccose (2)
200520 Common carder

Criorhina floccose is usually found in woodland – I found this one in a sheltered clearing in Cosmeston’s Cogan Wood, and there’s only been one previous record in my local 10-kilometre square. Now I know what to look for, I’ll be keeping an eye out for more.

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37/366 My first hoverfly larva

06 Thursday Feb 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

British hoverflies, dormant hoverfly larvae, hoverfly, hoverfly larva, Platycheirus larva, Platycheirus species

When I first saw this creature, I thought it might be a butterfly or moth larva but I was wrong – nothing new there!

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Thanks to a Twitter pal, I now know it’s a hoverfly larva and, with some excellent help from an entomologist who specialises in flies, I also now know it’s one of the Platycheirus family of hoverflies but not which of their 25 British species.

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Apparently, little is known about the larvae of some species of hoverflies: their larvae have not yet been fully examined or described, so you really need to rear a dormant larva through to adulthood to be sure. Not knowing that, I left this one in the woodland where I saw it, but next time …

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269/365 Still hovering

26 Thursday Sep 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, insects, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British hoverflies, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Eristalis nemorum, Eristalis species, Helophilus pendulus, hoverfly, Syrphus species

Despite the wind and rain of recent days, which continued through part of today, when the sun came out at Cosmeston there were still a few hoverflies about. I’ve forgotten everything I ever knew about hoverflies, which wasn’t much, but I think these are Syrphus sp. (these usually need microscopic examination to identify to species), Eristalis sp. (my photo doesn’t show enough details to be sure which species this is – maybe E. tenax), Eristalis nemorum, and ‘The footballer’, Helophilus pendulus.

190926 hoverflies (1) 

190926 hoverflies (2)
190926 hoverflies (3)

190926 hoverflies (4)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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