It’s that time of year when, especially after rain, hoverfly larvae can be found washed off their leaves on to fence posts, railings and stones (e.g. gravestones), particularly under Sycamore trees. Twice in the past week I’ve checked the roadside railings of a local park and found several larvae each time, of three different species.

First, a little cannibalism. The first shot shows a Dasysyrphus species larva that has almost finished eating a larva of one of the Syrphus species of hoverfly. When I returned this way a couple of hours later, the Dasysyrphus sp. larva hadn’t moved far (image on the right) and almost looked like it was considering the snail as prey but I think that would be biting off more than it could chew!

This is just the second Epistrophe grossulariae I’ve seen so I was very pleased to spot it. If you’re wondering what it will grow in to, click this link.

Syrphus species larvae were the most abundant (as with many of these larvae, it’s almost impossible to identify them accurately unless they’re retained and breed through to adulthood). And, as a final treat (?), here’s a little video of one of those Syrphus larvae munching on an aphid (slightly gross but compelling viewing!).