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Tag Archives: Episyrphus balteatus

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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170/366 Misc hoverflies

18 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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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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55/366 Three mini-beasties

24 Monday Feb 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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British insects, Episyrphus balteatus, Marmalade hoverfly, Scathophaga stercoraria, Yellow dung fly

During yesterday’s brief interlude of sunshine, when I was out searching for wildflowers, I happened across these three little mini-beasts – I’m sure there’d be a lot more out and about if we just had a little more of that precious sunshine.

200224 Marmelade hoverfly

The tiny critter above is a Marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), and the two below are, I think, Yellow dung flies (Scathophaga stercoraria). I think I can safely say there will soon be more Yellow dung flies flitting around.

200224 Yellow dung flies

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152/365 Hovering

01 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British hoverflies, Chrysotoxum bicinctum, Episyrphus balteatus, Helophilus pendulus, hoverfly, Volucella bombylans, Volucella bombylans subsp. plumata, Xanthogramma pedissequum

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 …

 

190601 1 volucella bombylans
190601 2 volucella bombylans subsp plumata

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).

 

190601 3 helophilus pendulus
190601 4 chrysotoxum bicinctum

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.

 

190601 5 Xanthogramma pedissequum
190601 6 episyrphus balteatus

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.

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Four more hoverflies

07 Thursday Apr 2016

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, nature photography

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Chequered hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus, hoverfly, Long hoverfly, Marmalade hoverfly, Melanostoma scalare, Meliscaeva auricollis, Sphaerophoria scripta

Of the 250 different hoverfly species in Britain I now have photos of seven – just a wee way to go yet then. At least it’s still early in the season – hoverflies are normally around from March to November, and numbers tend to peak in the hottest months of summer. Here are my four new finds:

160407 Episyrphus balteatus cathays cem

Episyrphus balteatus
Rather deliciously called the Marmalade hoverfly, presumably not because it tastes good but because of the orange and black bands of colour on its upper abdomen. These give it a wasp-like appearance, which helps to deter predators but can scare people into thinking they’re a swarm of wasps when they group together. It’s the most common hoverfly in Britain, and large numbers also migrate here from Europe.

160407 Meliscaeva auricollis cathays cem

Meliscaeva auricollis
Like that previous one, I found this little guy enjoying the wood anemones at Cathays Cemetery. The cemetery has large numbers of mature trees, which is the perfect environment for Meliscaeva auricollis. This is one of the earliest hoverflies to wake from hibernation, sometimes appearing as early as January if the winter’s been mild.

160407 Melanostoma scalare  merthyr mawr

Melanostoma scalare
Though its name literally means ‘Laddered Black-mouth’, this little creature’s common name is the Chequered hoverfly and you can perhaps just make out the chequerboard pattern on its upper abdomen. I found this one  at Merthyr Mawr National Nature Reserve last weekend. It prefers open grassland, damp rather than dry, and is usually to be found flying and feeding close to ground level.

160407 Sphaerophoria scripta methyr mawr

Sphaerophoria scripta
This was another find from Merthyr Mawr. Its common name is the Long hoverfly, presumably because, as you can see in my photo, the body of the male extends past the end of the wings which is unusual in hoverflies. This critter is a prolific breeder, with the ability to complete a full life cycle (eggs to adult) in just 16 days, which means up to 9 generations can occur in one year. Amazing!

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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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