View allAll Photos Tagged hoverfly
Flew into the house, caught by the dog, spat out of dogs mouth onto the carpet, licked and pawed by the dog, saved by myself and placed outside! It cleaned itself up and flew off hopefully not too traumatised by its ordeal!
On the theme of macro and more specifically hoverflies I thought I'd re-edit and re-visit a shot from the past.
With over 6,000 species, Hoverflies are prolific and the adults spent their lives nectaring from flowers and plants. Hoverflies are harmless to most other animals, despite their mimicry of more dangerous wasps and bees, which wards off predators.
I found this Hoverfly on the top of a coreopsis flower bud last summer.
The quintessential yellow and black striped hoverflies, Syrphus species are a common site in any park or garden. There are three common and widespread species in the UK, ribesii, vitripennis and torvus, whilst a fourth species, rectus, has a poorly understood distribution having recently been added to the UK list. Syrphus species have long hairs on the dorsal surface of the squama (basal segment of wing) but this can be difficult to see, leading to confusion with other species which bear moustached bands, such as Eupeodes nitens and Parasyrphus species. All Syrphus species have at least the basal half of the hind tibia yellow.
Hoverfly in flight - Episyrphus balteatus in flight over a lace hydrangea bloom. Not sure why but the wings came out with rather good definition
Flies in the family Syrphidae are commonly known as hoverflies, flower flies, or syrphid flies.
As their common names suggest, they 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 every continent except Antarctica. Hoverflies are harmless to most other animals despite their mimicry of the black and yellow stripes of wasps, which serves to ward off predators.
best viewed LARGE:
Our local wood, Kent, UK
Members of this Hoverfly group are quite distinctive through the grey bars on the thorax, with its often brassy looking abdomen, and the distinctive dark marks on the wings. F. cuprea is described as being widespread, but rarely abundant.
Hoverfly, Eristalis pertinax I believe 🤔 I’m sure one of the experts on here will correct me if I’m wrong 😂