Flies, Bees and Wasps

You get days when there seems to be nothing about, no birds, no butterflies and no dragonflies. However, if you look hard enough there is always something flying, even if it's usually the Cleggies out to drink your blood.

Below are a few of the Flies, Hoverflies, and Bees encountered this year. I have tied to identify them all but its hard work. There are so many that look similar and without killing and pinning them you cannot confirm the identifying features.  If you spot any errors please let me know. There are no pictures of cleggies, they don't usually survive long enough.

First the Flies. Some of them can be really beautiful.

Green Bottle Fly - Lucilia sericata

Blue Bottle  -   Calliphora  sp. probably vicina

Fly - Graphomya maculata Female

Fly - Musca autumnalis

Fly - Tachina fera or magnicornis

Fly - Phasia hemiptera

Sarcophaga sp. probably bercaea

Hoverflies

Tapered Drone Fly (Hoverfly) - Eristalis pertinax   

Dronefly (Hoverfly) -  Eristalis tenax

Hoverfly - Chrysotoxum bicinctum

Hoverfly - Myathropa florea

Helophilus pendulus

Hornet Mimic Hoverfly  -  Volucella zonaria

The Bees

Wool Carder Bee  -  Anthidium manicatum

Buff-tailed Bumblebee  -  Bombus terrestris   
Has a narrow buff band between the black and white on the tail

Common Carder Bee - Bombus pascuorum

Ivy Bee  -  Colletes Hederae

Large Carpenter Bee - Xylocopa violacea   (Croatia)

Two Wasp

Field digger wasp  -  Mellinus arvensis

Ichneumon Wasp - Amblyteles armatorius

a couple of shots of a Scorpion Fly

Scorpion Fly -  Panorpa communis

Scorpion Fly -  Panorpa communis

a couple of Mayflies - I think, but it may be safer to refer to them as Ephemeroptera

Mayfly 

Mayfly  -  Ephemera danica ?

and a Hornet

European Hornet  -  Vespa crabro

Nothing really unusual here but quite interesting once you get into it. Identification of the Mayflies was certainly beyond my abilities at the moment. I have a lot to learn.