Thick-legged Hoverfly

There have been a few different hoverflies through the garden over the past two or three weeks, including four that were new to me. The first of those is the Thick-legged Hoverfly Syritta pipiens. As with many of the hoverflies I am finding, they are said to be widespread and abundant. Maybe so, but I cannot recall seeing this one before. It is yet another example of wildlife all around me that I am failing to see.

Three found basking in the sun on the Heuchera. They were around for a couple of days but then disappeared. The field guide suggests occasional mass occurrences that may be the result of immigration (across the channel I assume) so I may get more passing through as the season progresses. Great hoverfly and takes a nice photograph.

Thick-legged Hoverfly -  Syritta pipiens

Thick-legged Hoverfly -  Syritta pipiens

Next up Rhinga campestris, another common and widespread species but again new to me. Like the Thick-legged above it has the benefit of being both photogenic and of being easy to identify. A good combination.

Rhingia campestris

The next one is not so easy. I did get a couple of other shots looking down on the hoverfly but they were out of focus. The markings on the abdomen suggest a female of the genus Melanostoma and the length of the body suggest scalare but I cannot be certain. Again the field guide says widespread and abundant.

Possible Melanostoma scalare but could be mellinum

To complete the quartet of new species I have Sphaerophoria scripta. Often found with yellow bands rather than spots. However colouration is influenced by the temperature at which the larvae develops and early specimens will often exhibit this darker colouration and spots instead of bands.

This one seems to be common and widespread in Southern England and Wales but not further north so slightly rarer than my first three.

Sphaerophoria scripta

Then comes one I cannot identify. I can get it down to genus Eupeodes and I would have liked to call it a female luniger  but it is missing the Y shaped dust marking on the fons that I would need to confirm it.

Eupeodes sp

I have other examples of Eupeodes, one that looks more like luniger and one that is definitely not. However I am pushing the limits of my knowledge here.

Showing faint Y shaped dust markings on the fons so probably luniger

Male with the top of the fons showing an angle of greater than 90°. For luniger it should be less than 90°

To finish I have two examples of the most populous hoverfly in the garden Episyrphus balteaus the Marmalade Hoverfly.  The first, a tiny female specimen, dwarfed by a Clematis flower. The second a much bigger male with a deeper orange colouration. Again the colour variations are the result of temperature during the laval stage.

Marmalade Hoverfly - Episyrphus balteatus

Marmalade Hoverfly - Episyrphus balteatus

It would be a lot easier to just take the picture and add the caption of here is another pretty hoverfly but researching, even at this basic level, does at least give me something to do during lockdown!!!