Meadow Eupeodes Hoverfly

The warmest day of the year so far brought out many flies, bees and butterflies. This particular hoverfly is fairly common and likes water meadows, hedges and gardens so our allotment site offers it everything.

It’s not clear to me whether this species (probably eupeodes latifasciatus) over-winters as an adult or would have remained as a pupa to emerge on a warm Spring day. It certainly appeared to be very shiny and ‘fresh’ looking so I’m thinking the latter.

This one stayed in the polytunnel and this is how I first spotted him, with the sun shining through his flat-ish body, lighting up his yellow stripes and legs.

Many dandelions flowered this weekend so perfect timing to emerge and feast on nectar - almost like nature had a plan... This one was happy with the salty sweat in my fingerprints!

He is a male - you can tell by the way his large compound eyes meet, whereas females have an obvious gap. He needs to find a mate as eggs are laid singly in May.

As with most hoverflies, the larvae eat root aphids and scale insects so this little chap is always welcome on the allotment site as a pest controller and a good pollinator.

Thanks to the Insects and Other Invertebrates of Britain and Europe Facebook group for the id.