View allAll Photos Tagged hoverfly
Volucella zonaria, length 25mm, wingspan 40mm!
"Description. This is a hornet mimic and is one of our largest and most spectacular hoverflies which can be recognised by its yellow and black banded abdomen. It is chestnut on tergite 2 and also on the scutellum and much of the thorasic dorsum. The only similar species is V. inanis which lacks the chestnut areas and which has sternite 2 yellow rather than black.
"Habitat. It seems to be found most frequently in urban areas and even in cities.
"When to see it. May to November peaking in August.
"Life History. Adults visit flowers. The larvae have been found in wasps nests.
"UK Status. This species became established in Britain in the 1940s and until recently it had very much a southerly distribution with most records coming from south of a line from the Severn Estuary to The Wash, however it seems to be expanding its range and is now quite frequently recorded further north."
This small Hoverfly is named Sphaerophoria Scripta I think
it is very agile and not scared of the camera so I could get up close and personal !!
Helophilus Pendulus - a very common hoverfly in July, its latin name translates as "Dangling Marsh Lover" though it is often referred to as The Footballer due to its stripy thorax. Also called the Tiger Hoverfly. This photo shows it feeding on nectar from an umbellifer.(Miller's Dale, Derbyshire Peak District).
Episyrphus balteatus, sometimes called the marmalade hoverfly, is a relatively small hoverfly (9–12 mm) of the Syrphidae family, widespread throughout the Palaearctic region, which covers Europe, North Asia, and North Africa. The upper side of the abdomen is patterned with orange and black bands. Two further identification characters are the presence of secondary black bands on the third and fourth dorsal plates and faint greyish longitudinal stripes on the thorax. Its colour patterns may appear wasp-like to other animals, such as birds, protecting it from predation.
E. balteatus can be found throughout the year in various habitats, including urban gardens, visiting flowers for pollen and nectar. They often form dense migratory swarms, which may cause panic among people for their resemblance to wasps. It is among the very few species of flies capable of crushing pollen grains and feeding on them. The larva is terrestrial and feeds on aphids.
As in most other hoverflies, males can be easily identified by their holoptic eyes, i.e., left and right compound eyes touching at the top of their heads, like this one here.
Hoverflies, as their common name suggests, are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggots) eat a wide range of foods. In some species, the larvae are saprotrophs, eating decaying plant and animal matter in the soil or in ponds and streams. In other species, the larvae are insectivores and prey on aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects.
About 6,000 species in 200 genera have been described. Hoverflies are common throughout the world and can be found on all continents except Antarctica. Hoverflies are harmless to most mammals, though many species are mimics of stinging wasps and bees, a mimicry which may serve to ward off predators.
This insect is feed of a common thistle; Cirsium vulgare, also known as spear thistle or bull thistle, which is a species of the Asteraceae genus Cirsium, native throughout most of Europe (north to 66°N, locally 68°N (the latitude here is 51°N)). It is the national flower of Scotland.
The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. It was rated in the top 10 for most nectar production (nectar per unit cover per year) in a UK plants survey conducted by the AgriLand project which is supported by the UK Insect Pollinators Initiative. Marsh thistle, Cirsium palustre, was ranked in first place while this thistle was ranked in sixth place. It also was a top producer of nectar sugar in another study in Britain, ranked third with a production per floral unit of (2300 ± 400 μg).
Thistles are known for their effusive flower heads, usually purple, rose or pink, also yellow or white. Cirsium thistles are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, and the seeds are attractive to small finches.
Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the plant – on the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. These prickles are an adaptation that protects the plant from being eaten by herbivores. Typically, an involucre (a modified or specialized leaf) with a clasping shape similar to a cup or urn subtends each of a thistle's flowerheads.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episyrphus_balteatus
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoverfly
Been trying to capture an in-flight image of a hoverfly with the movement of the wings. This image was captured in my garden.
Hoverfly on gorse - taken last weekend on a walk at Whisby Nature Park, Lincs.
Male Syrphus ribesii - thanks timz501 and Tristan for ID.
Handheld, natural light - I like how the gorse is so golden.
A marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) on our neighbour's privet hedge (Ligustrum vulgare).
It is the last of the four photos I took three days ago, as a contribution to World Photography Day, when the Norwegian Society for Photography annually arranges the project A Day in Norway, where one can upload photos taken on that day all around Norway for a digital book.
(Dobbeltbåndet blomsterflue på liguster-hekk, in Norwegian)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Feel free to follow my facebook photo page:
www.facebook.com/ranveigmariephotography/
Or my Instagram: