Friday 30 July 2010

A business of hoverflies

A business and a swarm, are the collective terms for flies, in this case, hoverflies. In the last few days, hoverflies, particularly the Marmalade fly, Episyrphus balteatus (above) have descended covering every flower, bush and branch with a stripy fuzziness. The group of Marmalade hoverflies on the flowering teasel above greeted me first thing in the morning. As I have said before, many hoverflies are migrants: numbers are swelled in the summer by migrants from southern Europe. I have taken shots of several species today, including Scaeva pyrastri, which I had only seen once in 2006 before, and now seems to be everywhere.
Syritta pipiens on fennel
Eristalis sp.
Syrphus sp.
Scaeva pyrastri on Knapweed
Myathropa florea on fennel
More information
Stubbs A.E. & Falk, S.J. (2002) British Hoverflies. BENHS.
Hoverfly Recording Scheme.

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