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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

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  1. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hi Andrew, yes - E. corollae looks favourite; a female I think. Cheers, Steve.
  2. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Never happened to me Jamie :o)
  3. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hi Kathy, looks to me like a Honey Bee [Apis mellifera]. But hard to be sure from the angle of the shot. Cheers, Steve.
  4. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Yes, I would agree with Eupeodes, and they are almost impossible to separate down to species from a photo. They are all quite variable as to the amount and shape of the yellow markings on the tergites. Sorry we can't be more precise.
  5. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hi Nick, this is Chrysotoxum bicinctum. Reasonably common and widespread. I get it in my 'wildlife' garden. Cheers, Steve.
  6. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    I'd agree with your ID's too. A fine couple of shots as well - particularly the M. florea.
  7. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hi Geoff, it's not a hoverfly but a Soldierfly! Probably Stratiomys potamida [given the common name of Banded General fairly recently]. Nice find though, I've been looking for these for a few years now and am yet to connect!! Cheers, Steve.
  8. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    It certainly looks like it to me, but you have to be careful making determinations from photos. You really need the insect and key it out. Unfortunately , with a lot of species, this usually means killing and setting it. I appreciate a lot of peoples reluctance in doing this and respect their...
  9. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Would that be Britain and Western Europe [which is the best one] or Northern Europe [which isn't so good]? In either case you have to be careful as there are so many species in most families that only a selected few are shown. At best you can get down to genera but rarely to species level. Oh...
  10. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hi Bill, from this angle it looks like the typical view one gets of a territorial hovering Volucella pellucens. Unless I am mistaken your shot shows a white 'band' around it's abdomen; this is the main thing that stands out [from my experience] when they are hovering - usually just above head...
  11. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    I would agree with Brian; and possibly it's S. vitrippenis. Cheers, Steve.
  12. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hi Roger, I think you may have already answered this one at the time of the original post. Did you mean to send this or is there some glitch/hiccup with birdforum? I suppose, now we are into March, we will soon need to cast our eyes up into flowering sallows to look for Cheilosa grossa? I...
  13. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hi Ken, as it seems no one else has had a go with this one [unless I missed it somewhere!] to me this looks like a female Sphaerophoria scripta. Cheers, Steve.
  14. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hi all, chuffed to bits that I found a 'new' species for me the other day - and a scarce species to boot; Epistrophe diaphana! Cheers, Steve.
  15. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hi Ken, #70 and#72 are the 'domestic' honey bee [you can see the 4 wings in one of the shots]. As Brian said, #73 is nigh impossible from the pic but I'd have a stab at S. vitripennis. Cheers, Steve.
  16. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hello Brian, I found a female V. inanis at a new site in Wilts last week. At the Wilts Wildlife Trust reserve of Ham Hill near the boundary with Hampshire. Unfortunately she wouldn't keep still long enough for me to get a pic. Also one Xanthogramma pedissequum there. It's been a good season for...
  17. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hi Roger, and thanks for putting me right! [Sigh of relief] at last, we have a real expert on the forum! Although I am gaining knowledge all the time it is obvious [as on this occasion] that I have much to learn. For example I have not knowingly come across a 'dark' L. lucorum before but now...
  18. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hi Brian, it looks like a worn specimen of Cheilosia illustrata to me. There is usually more of a covering of coloured hairs on the tergites but looking at the state of it's wings it's been through the mill! Cheers, Steve.
  19. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hi Pterodroma, they are both Eristalis spp. The left hand one is probably arbustorum and the other looks like tenax. Was this one much bigger than the first? Cheers, Steve.
  20. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    As Brian said the first two are pellucens. The last is Eristalis pertinax [mostly because of the pale front and mid tarsi]. The eyes are definately a good field characteristic - bee's being much smaller. You can also sex hoverflies by their eyes as males eyes meet at the top whereas females have...
  21. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hello from another Moonraker ;) Yes, definitely zonaria. I've had it once in my Swindon garden. I've attached a current [today] posting from the hoverflies yahoo group. Not sure if the link will work. You will probably need to register with the group to access it. "Thanks to the various people...
  22. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hi Sarah, I think your 'mouldy fly' ;) is a female Platycheirus - possibly angustatus as this is the most slender species of the group. It should be quite small [about 8mm long]. Cheers, Steve.
  23. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hello Brian, V. zonaria female and I'm pretty sure the Chrysotoxum is festivum. You're getting some cracking species lately. I saw C. bicinctum the other day and at last managed to get some halfway decent pics - they usually don't sit still long enough ;) Re your previous posting, I'm 99% sure...
  24. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Found a new species of Hoverfly [for me anyway] yesterday in some damp 'swampy' woodland near Swindon. It was Xylota segnis. The attached photo doesn't show the distinctive abdomen well as it's one of those species that always folds it's wings over it's abdomen at rest. Cheers, Steve.
  25. steve covey

    The Hoverfly Thread

    Hello Hugh, not a complete answer but here goes [from left to right]. Helophilus pendulus; Myathropa florea; Parahelophilus sp. [there are three species in the genus - difficult to separate, particularly females. In Stubbs and Falk they recommend catching several as there are usually more than...
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