Just as many of our wild flowers are coming to an end so the Ivy bursts out. An inconspicuous flower perhaps but, nonetheless, an invaluable nectar source for the late summer insects.
Here I found one of the wasp-mimicking hoverflies, Metasyrphus corollae, enjoying the rewards from a newly opened Ivy blossom.
This group of hoverflies is a tricky one and the pattern of the yellow patches on the backs is the key identifier but they can even vary within the same species!
Metasyrphus corollae is one of the most common of our hoverflies and can be abundant in some years, with migratory insects coming in from Europe. It can be found from April through to October and even in to November when conditions remain favourable although it is most common in mid-summer. You can find it on flowers in gardens, fields and meadows, road verges and hedges and waste ground in urban areas.
In this photo the light coloured patches on the thorax look white which would indicate a different species but they were really yellow!
Here I found one of the wasp-mimicking hoverflies, Metasyrphus corollae, enjoying the rewards from a newly opened Ivy blossom.
This group of hoverflies is a tricky one and the pattern of the yellow patches on the backs is the key identifier but they can even vary within the same species!
Metasyrphus corollae is one of the most common of our hoverflies and can be abundant in some years, with migratory insects coming in from Europe. It can be found from April through to October and even in to November when conditions remain favourable although it is most common in mid-summer. You can find it on flowers in gardens, fields and meadows, road verges and hedges and waste ground in urban areas.
In this photo the light coloured patches on the thorax look white which would indicate a different species but they were really yellow!
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