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Tag Archives: Eristalis pertinax

First hoverfly

03 Friday Feb 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British hoverflies, Eristalis pertinax, Eristalis tenax, hoverfly

During Monday’s walk along the local section of the Wales Coastal Path, I spotted my first hoverfly of the year, and immediately got the identification wrong. It seems that every winter I forget the basics for these creatures and have to refresh my memory over and over again (old age, or hoverfly blindness?).

230203 eristalis tenax (1)

In my defence, these are two very similar species but it took a friendly follower on Twitter to remind me that, for the hoverfly I found, the ‘feet are darker than E.[Eristalis] pertinax and it has a bendy rear tibia and hairy bands on its eyes so this is Eristalis tenax‘. (The ‘foot’ is the final segment of the leg.) To remind me, and help you, I’ve included comparison photos below – Eristalis tenax, he of the darker front feet, is on the left, and Eristalis pertinax, with the pale feet, is on the right.

230203 eristalis tenax and pertinax (2)

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‘Dedicated Naturalist’: ‘brief but fleeting pleasure’

11 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by sconzani in 'Dedicated Naturalist' Project, insects, nature

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Eristalis arbustorum, Eristalis pertinax, Eristalis tenax, hoverfly

A snippet from my volunteer work on the ‘Dedicated Naturalist’ Project, helping to decipher and digitise, record and publicise the life’s work of naturalist extraordinaire, Dr Mary Gillham. This is the type of delightful insight we volunteers often discover when mining Mary’s copious archives for biological records. Never a dull moment and frequent chuckling make a volunteer’s work fun!
 160811 Eristalis pertinax

Eristalis tenax drone flies   MATING, presumably, on 10 July 1981. The larger female sitting on flower head – buddleja, hogweed, thistle, &c. Male, or up to four males, smaller but marked exactly the same, narrow yellow bands on black, hovering 2-3” above for often considerable while before darting momentarily down, sweeping a tail across hers and swooping away again. No wonder he has to hover so persistently to get his aim just right for the ‘brief but fleeting pleasure’. Only 1 male is accepted, she flying off almost at once.

160811 Eristalis arbustorum

My images are the same genus but not the same species as Mary’s though their behaviour is similar. The top image is Eristalis pertinax, a very common hoverfly in much of Britain, and the lower image depicts a female (left) and male (right) Eristalis arbustorum, in a situation similar to that Mary has described, with the male awaiting his chance to pounce.

For the full story about the Mary Gillham Archive Project, check out our website, and follow our progress on Facebook and on Twitter.

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Hoverflies: handsome and harmless

31 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, nature photography

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Eristalis pertinax, Helophilus pendulus, hoverfly, Platycheirus albimanus, Tapered Drone Fly, The Footballer, The Sunfly, White-footed Hoverfly, Wood anemone

How is it that I am only just discovering hoverflies? Of course, I’ve seen them before, hovering silently over the garden bed and feeding on flower nectar, like the humming birds of the insect world, but I wasn’t aware of all their good qualities. For one thing, they’re clever – they mimic wasps and bees to deter predators, but they don’t sting. For another, because they feed on nectar and pollen, they’re excellent pollinators. And, for a third, many types of hoverfly larvae eat aphids and other plant-suckers so they’re every gardener’s friend and can potentially be used for biological control of those hugely damaging pests.

What I also discovered last weekend was that hoverflies love wood anemones and I found three species feasting on the beautiful drifts of plants currently flowering in my local cemetery. These are they – and I’m sure this is just the start of a beautiful new fascination!

Eristalis pertinax

Meet Eristalis pertinax, otherwise know as the Tapered Drone Fly. It’s a common sight throughout Britain, from March right through to November, and loves hedgerows and woodland trails.

Helophilus pendulus

As it’s a lover of fine sunny days, Helophilus pendulus is commonly known as The Sunfly, though some call it The Footballer because its stripy thorax resembles a team strip. Personally, I prefer its scientific name, which means ‘dangling marsh-lover’, a reference to its liking for watery places.

Platycheirus albimanus

And last and smallest for today is Platycheirus albimanus, the White-footed Hoverfly (though only the swelling on the front foot of the male is, in fact, pale). It’s another to be found throughout Britain, in gardens and hedgerows, from March to November.

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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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