Spring Smoothtail (Epistrophe eligans)

Spring Smoothtail (Epistrophe eligans) Wing Length 6.25-9.5mm Flight Apr-Jun peaking in May

Species to spot in April

For some people spring arrives with the coming of the blossom, for others the emergence of daffodils and crocuses, the call of the Chiffchaff or the first bees, but I look for the emergence of the Spring Smoothtail (Epistrophe eligans). It is a common hoverfly strongly associated with the blossom of spring. It also signifies the start of the hoverfly season with more species emerging in the coming weeks and months. It gladdens my heart when I see them.

Its an anthropophilic species, which means it thrives in human modified areas. If you don’t know much about hoverflies this is a good one to start looking for, being easy to find in your garden or just beyond your garden gate. Especially along a hedgerow or woodland edge, sunny and with a tree in full blossom. The more northerly you are in the UK the less likely you are to spot them, especially so in Scotland where they can be localised.

Hoverfly White-clubbed Glasswing (Scaeva pyrastri)

White-clubbed Glasswing (Scaeva pyrastri) Wing length 9.25-11.25. Flight May-Mid August

Species of the week –1st December

The first thing you will notice if you spot this hoverfly, are its abdominal markings. They remind me of hockey sticks, but the shape is often referred to as clubbed or bowed. Some prefer to refer to them as smoothwing, others glasswing due to the lack of microtrichia (tiny hairs) on the wings. There are 5 species listed for the British Isles but there are only 2 that you are likely to come across anytime May to mid-August. These are pryrastri and selentica the main difference being white/cream abdominal markings for the former and yellow for the latter. 

If this hoverfly seems familiar, even if you haven’t found one in the wild, it’s probably because you have seen the 1st edition of Britain’s Hoverflies by S. Ball and R. Morris published by WILDguides, where it is featured on the front cover. 

Hoverfly - Common Dainty (Baccha elongata)

Common Dainty (Baccha elongata) Wing length 4-8.25mm. Flight Apr-Nov

Species of the week – 10th November.

The first thing to notice about these hoverflies is that they look like no other hoverfly. They have this slender body with a wasp waist and hover around plants without visiting any actual flowers, or at least rarely. You might even wonder if they are in fact a hoverfly at all? Well yes, they are, they have the definitive vena spuria, the false unconnected vein, typical of all hoverflies, Syrphidae.

Hoverfly Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax) Size 9.75-13.0mm. Flight Mar-Nov.

Species of the week – 3^rd November.

This is a hoverfly that, as the name suggests, is common and can be spotted any month of the year. As I write this in November it is one of the few hoverflies that I can come across on a milder day, because females are known to hibernate. In Spring it is often one of the first hoverflies I see hovering in a shaft of sunlight, lekking over a dandelion flower in the hope of mating with a passing female. This hoverfly is known to dangle its legs as it hovers, so is identifiable in the air even if out of reach to see its markings. Come Autumn go to any Ivy bush in the sun and I am sure to see one of them, along with its cousin the Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax).  

Hoverfly - Greater Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)

Greater Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria) Size: 15.5-19.5mm Flight: May-Nov

Species of the week – 6^th October

This our largest hoverfly (In the U.K) and if you have seen one you can probably understand why it’s often mistaken for the European hornet Vespa crabo, and with good reason. Its markings mimic the hornet in both colouration and design, a classic example of Batesian mimicry. However, this hornet mimic will not sting, bite or get aggressive defending a nest, as doesn’t have one and is often seen late summer and into autumn on a warm day.

Hoverfly - Batman (Myathropa florea)

Batman (Myathropa florea) 7.5-12.8mm Flight: May-Oct.

Species of the week - 30th Aug

Batman (Myathropa florea) so named because of the markings on the thorax which resembles the batman motif, which makes this very distinctive and easy to identify in the garden. But if you are struggling with seeing that image, due to variation, then try to visualise a human face as its other common name is the dead head fly due to the pattern resembling a 'death mask'. Often seen around landing platforms of an umbellifer or ivy flowers, with the male hovering in a shaft of sunlight just above a flower as it waits for a lady to land.