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Tag Archives: small hoverfly with black and white markings

A welcome visit from a ho(o)verfly

17 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by theresagreen in British hoverflies, hoverflies, Nature of Wales

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

pied hoverfly, scaeva pyrestri, small hoverfly with black and white markings

On a warm sunny morning earlier this week I opened my living room windows, as I do most days, and was delighted when a little hoverfly popped in for a visit. It was a black and white one, commonly called the Pied Hoverfly, a species I hadn’t yet seen this year.

12/7/15-Pied Hoverfly-Scaeva pyrastri

12/7/15-Pied Hoverfly-Scaeva pyrastri

It settled on a houseplant in front of the open window, but then I was inspired to go and fetch another plant, a small banana plant that I had previously noticed was under serious attack by greenfly. The hoverfly took to it immediately and quickly began to feast on the sticky honeydew secreted by the aphids.

12/7/15- Pied Hoverfly- Scaeva pyrastri

12/7/15- Hoovering up the honeydew

Watching the little insect at work hoovering up the clearly delicious sticky stuff was fascinating, and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to get some close-up views of it whilst sitting comfortably on a chair. I was feeling a bit guilty about the extent of the marauding aphids on the poor plant though, which was also brought into shaming close-up. I just don’t like killing things, even greenfly.

The distinct creamy-white markings are shaped like commas

The distinct creamy-white markings are shaped like commas

Front view

Front view

150712-hvfly-Scaeva pyrastri (12)a

Huge eyes and a rough, scaly tongue

But the hoverfly was really only quite tiny…

On a more realistic scale

On a more realistic scale

The Pied Hoverfly-Scaeva pyrastri is a migratory species, which as with the Red Admiral and Clouded Yellow butterflies, arrives in Britain in highly variable numbers. In some years it is almost absent, bt when it does occur it may breed locally. (Britain’s Hoverflies-Stuart Ball & Roger Morris)

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‘But it is the common species that keep the living world ticking over and provide most of our experiences of wildlife, and I would argue that maintaining the abundance of these is as important a conservation priority as maintaining the existence of rarities’. Richard Mabey

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