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This hoverfly, Rhingia campestris has a remarkable snout, which protects its rod like proboscis (specialised mouthparts). This fly’s proboscis is exceptionally long for a hoverfly and enables it to reach into deeper flowers than other nectar feeding flies. (In this photograph, it will reach the bottom of this flower.) When not in use, the proboscis is folded up and is stored in a groove on the underside of the snout.
Here the fly is nectaring on a wallflower. The fly feeds on nectar and pollen, but there are considerable differences in the relative amounts of pollen and nectar eaten by individual flies. Pollen, a rich protein source, is required most by females, particularly during those stages of egg development when the yolk is formed. Nectar, which is mainly carbohydrate, is required in large amounts by males, and is required by females before and after egg production. The larval stage lives and feeds on dung!
I have just returned from spending a wonderful week with my son and his partner, at their new home in Derbyshire. I will catch up with you all over the coming days. Thanks for visiting, and have a great Sunday :)
Not sure what it is on, maybe a catsear?
Anyway, to see nature this close and detail is mindblowing.
Portrait female marmalade hoverfly, made with magnification 5 and f/14 using a Canon 7D and a Canon MP-E 65mm/2.8. It is a single picture. The large version can be seen at
Episyrphus balteatus, sometimes called the marmalade hoverfly, is a relatively small hoverfly (9–12 mm) of the Syrphidae family, widespread throughout all continents. Like most other hoverflies it mimics a much more dangerous insect, the solitary wasp, though it is a quite harmless species. 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 3rd and 4th dorsal plates and of faint greyish longitudinal stripes on the thorax.
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 its 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 the head (source: Wikipedia).
This hoverfly is probably a female Syrphus ribesii - the species doesn't have a common name.
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Eupeodes luniger (Meigen 1822) —
Description of Eupeodes luniger
Size: Wing length 6.5-10mm
Species account: A larger species than E.corollae the other common Eupeodes in the UK, E.luniger is highly variable in appearance but the yellow markings on the abdomen never reach the lateral margins of the tergites. Females have broad lunulate spots which are never fused, and the frons usually only a third black with a distinctive y-shaped black elongation. Males usually have the yellow markings separate but occasionally these fuse to make spectacle shaped markings. Smaller males with fused markings are very difficult to distinguish from other Eupeodes species.
TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animilia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Syrphidae
Genus: Eupeodes
Species Eupeodes luniger
A tiny hoverfly (I think it's a marmalade hoverfly) flitting around my garden in the sunshine this afternoon.
Photo©George Crawford.
Macro of a hoverfly on a flower.
© 2005 Kees Smans
License this photo on Getty Images I Follow my Getty Images I gettyimages.keessmans.com
Durlston, Dorset
Hoverfly (female) [Chrysotoxum bicinctum]
DIPTERA > BRACHYCERA > LOWER CYCLORRHAPHA > ASCHIZA
Syrphoidea > Syrphidae (Hoverflies) > Syrphinae > Syrphini