Tag Archives: British hoverflies

152/365 Hovering

01 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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I found a new path today, which led me through swathes of long grass bordered by brambles and low shrubby bushes. I emerged with wet shoes and trousers from the dew still coating the grass but with lots of photos of hoverflies, so I will definitely be going back to explore further. Here are the hovers …

Volucella bombylans and Volucella bombylans subsp. plumata
At first glance you might think these two hoverflies were bumblebees, and that’s exactly what they want you to think – or, rather, what they want bumblebees to think, because they don’t want to be caught out when sneaking in to lay their eggs in the nests of the bumblebees they mimic (which are the Red-tailed bumblebee Bombus lapidarius and the White-tailed bumblebee Bombus lucorum respectively).

Helophilus pendulus and Chrysotoxum bicinctum
Do you see why the hoverfly on the left is known as The Footballer? I’m not sure which football team his colourful markings are meant to represent – perhaps Helophilus pendulus has its own team. Its distinctive bands of bright yellow make Chrysotoxum bicinctum one of the easier hoverflies to identify.

Xanthogramma pedissequum and Episyrphus balteatus
Xanthogramma pedissequum is another hoverfly with reasonably easy to identify markings – believe me, not all hoverflies are so easy! And with its rich orange colouring, Episyrphus balteatus looks almost edible, which is probably why it’s called the Marmalade hoverfly.

Hovering no more

17 Wednesday Oct 2018

Posted by in autumn, insects, nature, wildflowers

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What a difference a week makes! Seven days ago I was still seeing quite a few hoverflies, feeding on the remaining wildflowers and basking on leaves in the occasional sunshine.

181017 hoverflies (7)

Since then, we’ve had a couple of much cooler nights and the blast of wild, wet and windy weather that was Storm Callum, and the hoverflies seem mostly to have disappeared.

Is that the last I’ll see of them till 2019? Only time will tell.

181017 hoverflies (8)

The Chinooks of the hoverfly world

26 Sunday Aug 2018

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These are a couple of the Volucella species, the Chinooks of the hoverfly world and, if you live in the southern parts of Britain, they’ll be out there hovering along woodland paths and in local parks near you right now. Before you panic and get out your fly swat, these hoverflies may look a little menacing – and some of them even look a bit like Hornets – but, please rest assured, they are all completely harmless. And, if you take a little time for a closer look, you will soon see what incredibly handsome mini-beasties they are.

180826 Volucella zonaria (4) 

With a wing length between 15 and 20mm, Volucella zonaria is the largest British hoverfly and is sometimes known as the Hornet mimic. (There is a very similar species called Volucella inanis but we don’t see them very often in south Wales.) Since arriving in Britain, on England’s south coast, in the 1930s, V. zonaria has made itself at home and has spread west and northwards. During July and August, I’ve seen several of these beauties at Lavernock Nature Reserve and along our local rail trail, a former railway line now a tree-lined foot- and cycling path.

180826 Volucella pellucens (1)

With its large size and black-and-white colouring, Volucella pellucens is a very distinctive hoverfly and easy to identify. You can see why it’s also known as the Great Pied hoverfly. When it’s not feasting on pollen and nectar, it can often be found defending its airspace by hovering around head height along paths and trails. If you stand still, it will sometimes approach to check you out but, once again, it will do you absolutely no harm and move out of your way when you carry on walking. 

A little hoverating

13 Thursday Jul 2017

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I admit to not taking as many photos of hoverflies this year as last. This is partly due to an overwhelming fascination with everything, meaning I tend not to focus on one family for long (I’m sure this will pass once I’ve lived in Britain a few more years and have seen a lot of the more common species of everything), but also because the area where I now live has less hoverfly-friendly habitats. Still, I do photograph them when I see them, especially any newbies. Here are a few …

Leucozona glaucia and Leucozona laternaria
These are not hoverflies I see very often but they are quite distinctive and that makes them easy to identify, not something you can say about many invertebrates. They’re woodland species but can often be found grazing on the hogweed flowers that frequently grow along woodland rides and edges. The two species are almost identical, except for the colour of their front legs (not always easily seen) and their scutellum (much easier – that’s the half moon shaped bit on their backs between their wings). The scutellum is yellow in Leucozona glaucia (above left) and dark in L. laternaria (above right).

170713 Merodon equestris

Merodon equestris
This medium-sized hoverfly looks a lot like a bumblebee, but the shape of its head and its large eyes are easy ways to tell that it’s not. In their top-notch field guide Britain’s Hoverflies, Stuart Ball and Roger Morris note that Merodon equestris is ‘believed to have been introduced into Britain in daffodil bulbs imported from Europe around the end of the 19th century’. That’s because the larvae of this hoverfly develop inside bulbs and have a particular liking for daffodils.

Xylota segnis and Xylota sylvarum
These are just two of the seven members of the Xylota genus – I have yet to see the others. With their lanky legs, they look a bit like sawflies and they also prefer gathering pollen and honeydew from leaves rather than flowers, so they’re not your run-of-the-mill hoverflies. I find these quite difficult to tell apart but X. segnis has a black bottom (above left) whereas X. sylvarum’s is yellow (above right) (not easy to see when they’re resting and covering their bottoms with their wings, as in my photo).