Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) Wing length: 6-10.25mm. Flight: All year.

Species to spot in January

If there is one hoverfly everyone probably can spot and maybe even identify it's the Marmalade hoverfly. It is found in most habitats, but especially common in and around the flowers in one’s garden and by far the commonest hoverfly in the country. It is also migratory and has on occasion caused alarm when they invade from the continent in their thousands. They even reached the broadsheets one year causing mass panic to the un-informed, who mistook them for wasps.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/aug/03/sillyseason.science

They are not only great pollinators but are also, due to volume in numbers, a superb natural pest controller, worthy of attracting to the garden. Encourage them to lay their eggs (white) so that the emerging larva can feast on the aphids in your vegetable patch, and you may get a better crop of cabbages, as they particularly like those aphids (Brevicoryne brassicae). The larvae which are legless, translucent with orange markings, can eat up to 400 aphids during development to adulthood. It would be nice to think that gardeners and farmers could leave these little ‘superheroes’ to resolve these pest problems, rather than with artificial solutions, especially during their peak months July to August.

Hoverfly - Common Banded (Syrphus ribesii)

Common Banded (Syrphus ribesii) Size 7.25-11.5mm. Flight. Apr-Nov

Species of the week – 13th October 

As the nights draw in and the days get colder, windier and wetter the chances to see hoverflies decrease. However, on those warmer days, with a little searching for that hoverfly hotspot, they can be found. 

One of the species still around in numbers is the Common Banded hoverfly (Syrphus ribesii). They are one of those species where the common in the name does actually mean its common unlike Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago or Common Crane Grus grus. Other names for it are the Common Flower fly, as they are often referred to as flowerflies not hoverflies in the Americas. It is also known as the Humming Banded fly, a naming more related to its behaviour, and one I prefer, if it should become less common.

Hoverfly - Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)

Footballer (Helophilus pendulus) Size: 11-15mm Flight: Apr- Oct.

Species of the week – 20th September

If you have a pond then this hoverfly is a likely visitor to your garden, especially around July when their numbers peak. Although its now coming to the end of its season there are still a few about, often seen basking on a leaf. See blog Garden Hoverflies

The thorax has pale yellow stripes and because of this is commonly called the footballer, as it resembles a football shirt, in particular Hull City with their amber and black striping. Other names for this wonderful species are the Tiger, which is the nickname for said football club. It is also the thorax design of this blogger's logo, chosen because of its distinctiveness. The rest of the logo design is not of Helophilus, however more information about this in a future post.

Hoverfly - Yellow-girdled Fleckwing (Dasysyrphus tricinctus)

Yellow-girdled Fleckwing (Dasysyrphus tricinctus) 7.25-10.25mm Flight: Apr-Sep

Species of the Week - 6th Sept

Yellow-girdled fleckwing (Dasysyrphus tricinctus) is a widespread but not an abundant hoverfly, with August/September being a good time to spot them as adults are known to visit yellow composites and white umbellifers, particularly on edges of lowland woodlands, parklands and coniferous forests. 

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.

Garden Stripey Hoverflies

What you could find in your garden, if you look?

When you are next out in the garden in your flower borders admiring the flowers, have a look for some tiny, medium and large stripy insects. These insects are not just endemic to this country in fact you can find them anywhere across globe. There are 280+ species that have colonised Britain since the last ice age, moving north as the ice sheet retreated. Varieties that visit our gardens are often very colourful but they will not sting you. They have big eyes relative to body size enabling them to fly away as you approach them, especially if you create a shadow over their ocelli (a triangle of light sensitive cells at the top of their head). If you don't disturb them the males will often sit basking in the sun patiently waiting for a lady to come by or a rival who will need fending-off. You might see an orange and black abdomen type scuttling from side to side on a leaf like a crab, or one with big bright red eyes. If you find some aphids on your plants look closely you might find a grub nearby farming the aphid's sugary excrement. But most likely you will see an insect that resembles a bee or wasp, but you would be wrong to think that's what they were. 

Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)      Batman (Myathropa florea)           Pied Plumehorn (Volucella pellucens)

 Marmalade (Episyrphus balteatus)     Common Long Globetail (Sphaerophoria scripta)    Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)