I was late out out, today, after five, but pleasantly surprised to still find some bees and flies on the brambles and hogweed along the trail, despite the dull evening conditions.
There were hive bees, common carder bees, white/buff tailed bumblebees, greenbottles, Episyrphus balteatus, Sphaerophoria scripta, Melanostoma scalare, and some Syrphus hoverflies.
The Syrphus all looked initially to beSyrphus vitripennis, with the hind femora at least two thirds dark, as opposed to ribesii, in which they are more yellow Syrphus ribesii as the hind femora in this first one I looked at are yellow for at least the apical third or 33% (the yellow length measured in this picture as 44% on the ruler) To be Syrphus vitripennis the yellow should be less than 25%. However it does seem as though Syrphus are definitely not separatable into species and it is better just to leave this as Syrphus spp. They do all seem to be males however!
This Syrphus on the white flower looks more like Syrphus vitripennis however, with 33% or less visible as yellow, although I couldn't see the whole of the femur to be sure.
The last Syrphus, by the sloe clump near the end of MT 133, was again more like Syrphus ribesii with the yellow looking like 41% of the femur.
I saw a couple of male Sphaerophoria scripta, recognized by the wings being shorter than the abdomen, but only pictured one.
There was also this apparently silver-spotted version of Meliscaeva auricollis, only starting to colour up on the fifth tergite.
This is Melanostoma scalare, with its unique abdominal pattern quite nicely visible through the wings, easier I think when taken towards the light, or in poor light, rather than struggling with reflection off the wings.
I nearly mistook this for an Episyrphus from a distance, but it is in fact Meliscaeva cinctella,again quite a common hoverfly.
There were quite a few Common Carder bees, Bombus pascuorum around, and I did get a few pictures.
There were hive bees, common carder bees, white/buff tailed bumblebees, greenbottles, Episyrphus balteatus, Sphaerophoria scripta, Melanostoma scalare, and some Syrphus hoverflies.
The Syrphus all looked initially to be
This Syrphus on the white flower looks more like Syrphus vitripennis however, with 33% or less visible as yellow, although I couldn't see the whole of the femur to be sure.
The last Syrphus, by the sloe clump near the end of MT 133, was again more like Syrphus ribesii with the yellow looking like 41% of the femur.
I saw a couple of male Sphaerophoria scripta, recognized by the wings being shorter than the abdomen, but only pictured one.
There was also this apparently silver-spotted version of Meliscaeva auricollis, only starting to colour up on the fifth tergite.
This is Melanostoma scalare, with its unique abdominal pattern quite nicely visible through the wings, easier I think when taken towards the light, or in poor light, rather than struggling with reflection off the wings.
I nearly mistook this for an Episyrphus from a distance, but it is in fact Meliscaeva cinctella,again quite a common hoverfly.
There were quite a few Common Carder bees, Bombus pascuorum around, and I did get a few pictures.
There was also an Oedemera beetle, possibly a female Oedemera nobilis without the swollen thighs of the male. The elytra in this genus are rarely if ever properly "closed":
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