Meliscaeva auricollis

14 Tuesday Mar 2023

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British hoverflies, hoverfly, Meliscaeva auricollis

In just a few days we’ve gone from sleet and snow to a high of 11ºc. We humans can easily change our clothes to suit the conditions but the see-sawing temperatures must be creating problems for the insect world.

230313 meliscaeva auricollis (1)

Some, like these Meliscaeva auricollis hoverflies, emerge from their winter hibernation when the temperatures start to rise, then get knocked sideways when the mercury plummets and the snow starts to fall. Hopefully, they’re able to find shelter from the icy blasts so they can re-emerge at a later date.

230313 meliscaeva auricollis (2)

Comes the sun

27 Monday Feb 2023

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British flies, Episyrphus balteatus, flies, hoverfly, Marmalade hoverfly

Comes the sun, come the flies! A sheltered south-facing ivy-covered wall with assorted small shrubs, wild plants and dense leaf litter below is their little bit of paradise. The first of these images shows my second hoverfly for the year, a Marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), the rest I don’t know, nor am I bothered to discover their identities – I was simply enjoying seeing little critters flitting about the vegetation again, and knowing that more, including my beloved butterflies, will soon follow.

230227 flies

First hoverfly

03 Friday Feb 2023

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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)

The big four

23 Tuesday Aug 2022

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British hoverflies, hoverfly, Volucella bombylans, Volucella inanis, Volucella pellucens, Volucella species, Volucella zonaria

These are the big beasties of the hoverfly world, the bumblebee, wasp and hornet mimics. Though their size can be a little intimidating, they are all completely harmless to humans, and wonderful to watch going about their daily lives. There are actually five Volucella species in Britain – the woodland species Volucella inflata does occur locally (see A new hoverfly, June 2020) but I’ve not noticed one this year. The big four below are Volucella bombylans, Volucella pellucens (commonly known as the Great pied hoverfly, due to its colouring), Volucella inanis and Volucella zonaria – these are the two mostly easily confused with each other but the most obvious difference is the chestnut colouring of V. zonaria‘s thorax.

220823 volucella hoverflies

Hovering, summer 2022

20 Wednesday Jul 2022

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British hoverflies, hoverfly, hoverfly larva

A little video slideshow of some of the hoverflies that have recently caught my eye, including one new species larva – always a treat to find these strange-looking aphid eaters.

Perched

09 Wednesday Mar 2022

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British hoverflies, Eristalis species, hoverfly, hoverfly on hand

I’ve always been envious of people who manage to entice insects to sit on their hand / head / shoulder etc. You know what I mean – those photos on social media of a butterfly / dragonfly / moth etc seemingly content to perch for several minutes on a finger or palm or even face. So, I was exceedingly chuffed a couple of days ago when this Eristalis species of hoverfly graced my hand with its presence, even staying long enough for me to reach into a pocket for my camera and take a few photos. A special moment!

220309 eristalis

X is for Xylota & Xanthogramma

29 Wednesday Dec 2021

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British hoverflies, hoverfly, Xanthogramma pedissequum, Xylota segnis, Xylota sylvarum

If it weren’t for hoverflies, this letter might well have proven rather tricky. Fortunately, there are three genera of hoverfly in Britain with names beginning with X: Xanthandrus, Xanthogramma and Xylota. I have seen none of the first but I have seen one of the Xanthogramma species, X. pedissequum (there are two others that have so far eluded me, X. stackelbergi and X. citrofasciatum).

211229 Xanthogramma pedissequum

There are seven British species of Xylota, of which I have so far encountered only two, X. segnis (below left) and X. sylvarum (below right). I’m still finding hoverflies a rather tricky family to identify but these particular finds have been confirmed through a series of photos by those much more expert than I will ever be.

Scaeva pyrastri

04 Saturday Sep 2021

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British hoverflies, hoverfly, hoverfly larva, Migrant hoverfly, Scaeva pyrastri

It’s quite the transformation, from this green larva that looks a bit like a cross between a slug and a caterpillar …

210904 scaeva pyrastri (1)

to this black-and-white flying creature.

210904 scaeva pyrastri (2)

This is the hoverfly Scaeva pyrastri and, amazingly, it’s a migrant from mainland Europe. A bit like the Red admiral butterfly, Scaeva pyrastri has good years and bad years, sometimes visiting lowland Britain in large numbers, sometimes hardly at all. And, when it comes here, it does often breed locally (and here, I must add a caveat – the larva in my first image may actually be the other Scaeva species, S. selentica, though that species hasn’t actually been recorded in my area).

210904 scaeva pyrastri (3)

Three more hoverflies

06 Saturday Mar 2021

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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 balteatus Episyrphus balteatus

210306 eristalis tenax Eristalis tenax

210306 Meliscaeva auricollis Meliscaeva auricollis

First hoverfly

25 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by sconzani in spring

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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!