Syrphin

Spent some time in the garden early this morning, too early for any real activity - just enjoying the relative peace, birdsong, morning warmth and plenty of coffee. I wasn't enjoying the largely empty moth trap. One of the Blackcaps showed itself a little better, and I saw a female in the garden which was nice.

I could hear a Skylark singing, and a very distant snatch of Lesser Whitethroat - I think the days of this being annual on the embankment are now over as it is probably too densely shrubbed over now. It sounded not far away, just beyond the end of the embankment where it turns to hedgerow along the field edges.

Early this afternoon, with left foot big toe much more flexible and much less painful than of late, I headed of for my first walk in over two weeks. I headed back to the disused railway line and I've got a few bits from the outing to share over future posts. Today though, I'll focus on the main activity in the garden yesterday with a couple of bits from today thrown in as they fit the topic - Syrphinae.

Having got completely fed up with the Eristalis pertinax disturbing anything, but having also noted a few smaller hoverflies in the garden, I decided it was time to swish the net and try to get them sorted. I'm not used to fondling hoverflies and clearly need more practice as getting hold of them was certainly not a refined and honed process - however all were released unharmed. Getting one-handed shots whilst hand-rangling diptera is also an art that I need to perfect. Turned out they're all female, I guess the males were too busy to be fanny about flying in sunshine.

First up, one that really should be exciting but again (having had one last year) a sense-check on the UK Hoverflies facebook group says sp. only. These clearly just need lumping ....

Female Pipiza sp.

Legs not yellow enough for P. luteitarsis, so probably P. noctiluca sl, but might not be ...

Female Eupeodes sp.

Another bugger, as markings not quite right for either E. luniger or E. corollae

 The rest were more straightforward ....

Female Melanostoma scalare

 Female Platycheirus albimanus

Grey spots on abdomen, extensively yellow legs

Female Rhingia campestris

Black edging to tergites

The following are all from the walk today ... same method, same clumsy handling ...

Female Leucozona lucorum

 

Female Helophilus pendulus

Female Syrphus ribesii

Note the hind femur is largely yellow except the base

Pizza

It's been a busy week with naff weather. So nothing doing really, though the sun shone for a few minutes today whilst I pottered around the garden with the camera, and I nearly got myself a new hoverfly. Well in most respects I have, it's just that I don't know which one ......

I hadn't even clicked that it was a hoverfly until I pointed the camera on it, but before I could do anything meaningful it buggered off never to be seen again. Anyway, it's a Pipiza sp. and it's a female. It is quite likely Pipiza noctiluca but there are several similar species. Even P. noctiluca is likely to be worked into a number of new species.

I also spotted and snapped another garden visitor that I don't recall seeing here before, and yet again another that can't really be reliably identified from a photo ....

Anthomyia sp. - quite likely A. procellaris

More certain, but less attractive, was this big fat Tree Bumblebee on my alliums