Hoverflies are still active

This photo was taken on the 18th November and shows a lovely specimen of the Melanostoma scalare hoverfly.

Just like the Tephritis formosa gall fly below, it was found on the flowers of the "Paddy's Pride" species of Ivy. I cannot stress enough the importance of having Ivy in the garden for the benefit of our dwindling insect life.

In the first image, if you look carefully, there appears to be a lime green blob just above one of the legs where it joins the body. This in fact is the haltere, and they are often green or blue/green, which can often be an identification clincher for this particular species.

Hoverflies belong to the group of insects called Diptera, meaning two winged insects. Virtually all other insects have four wings even though the hind pair are often small and at times may be covered by the larger front pair (bees and wasps). The hind pair of wings in the Diptera have become reduced to tiny drumsticks called halteres.

In the second image, there are clearly triangular yellow/orange spots of distinctive orientation, which indicates a female of this particular species.

This species is found between April and November. Widespread and common in grassy situations throughout Britain, but not normally found in mountainous or moorland locations.