Cheilosia variabilis (m)??
Cheilosia have been described as the hoverfly equivalent to the birders' 'little brown job'. With the exception of C. illustrata they are 'little black jobs' with small features of detail distinguishing them. In this case ID comes down to whether the hairs that can be seen around the rim of the eyes are 'projecting facial hairs'.
Photo ID requires ultimate quality (much sharper than this shot) from different angles. On the rare occasions when one of these flies sit relatively still I'm trying to do this but have yet to produce shots that convince the experts of a species-level ID.
Photographed at Goathland in the North Yorkshire Moors.
Cheilosia variabilis (m)??
Cheilosia have been described as the hoverfly equivalent to the birders' 'little brown job'. With the exception of C. illustrata they are 'little black jobs' with small features of detail distinguishing them. In this case ID comes down to whether the hairs that can be seen around the rim of the eyes are 'projecting facial hairs'.
Photo ID requires ultimate quality (much sharper than this shot) from different angles. On the rare occasions when one of these flies sit relatively still I'm trying to do this but have yet to produce shots that convince the experts of a species-level ID.
Photographed at Goathland in the North Yorkshire Moors.