Until last week I’d only seen this hoverfly species once before, almost ten years ago to the day.

This is almost certainly Eupeodes latifasciatus; it has been verified as ‘considered correct’, which usually means the verifier is 99% sure the identification is right but there is some room for doubt. That’s because, as my trusty guidebook points out, ‘the most reliable character requires a microscope’.

The guidebook also notes that ‘Abundance varies considerably from year to year suggesting that it is at least a partial migrant’. Perhaps that’s why it’s been ten years since I saw my first of these, and why it’s taken our record-breaking summer weather this year to see another.