![]() Males are green-bronze and females are blue Lejogaster tarsata: a small metallic hoverfly. Platycheirus albimanus: a small hoverfly with beautiful silver spots ![]() Volucella bombylans: a large bumblebee mimic with hairy (plumose) antennae Pellucid hoverfly ( Volucella pellucens): if this hovers above you, you can see right through it! Scaeva pyrastri - note the oblique white bars on the abdomen Scaeva pyrastri can be found in gardens, meadows and wasteland and its numbers peak in August, sometimes being boosted by strong immigrations. This species is very fast-moving, so quite difficult to photograph (from my personal experience!). The pied hoverfly is a large hoverfly with distinctive oblique white bars on a black abdomen. Myathropa florea are frequent visitors to wild carrot ( Daucus carota) Myathropa florea: note the pale hairs on the thorax Adults of this species are fond of large umbellifer flowers, such as wild carrot, and can be seen from May-September. Myathropa florea is easily identified by the markings on its thorax: a central black patch partially bisected by a pair of pale bars. This large hoverfly is another wasp mimic with bold black and yellow markings. The long hoverfly: note the elongated slender abdomen This hoverfly peaks in numbers in July-August and is common in open grassland, gardens (including Jennifer Owen's) and urban wasteland. There are a few species within the genus Sphaerophoria but this particular hoverfly can be identified easily if you come across a male - its abdomen is significantly longer than its wings. The long hoverfly is a small, yellow-and-black striped hoverfly with a slender abdomen. Merodon equestris mimicking the common carder bee ( Bombus pascuorum)Ĭommon carder bee - can you spot the difference between the model and the mimic? Merodon equestris - this colour morph mimics the red-tailed bumblebee ( Bombus lapidarius) ![]() You can spot these common garden visitors from May-September - see if you can find all four colour varieties. This hoverfly got its name because its eggs are laid on the leaves of bulb plants (such as bluebells and daffodils) once they have hatched out, the larvae burrow into the bulb and stay here for up to 300 days before emerging as adults. There are four main colour morphs which mimic the colour patterns of different bumblebee species. The large bulb fly (or large Narcissus fly) is a densely hairy hoverfly which mimics bumblebees.
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