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-mimicking hoverfly.This has got to be one of my favourite insects. Despite its size (one of Britain's largest flies), it has no common name, apart from the rather inadequate 'belted hoverfly' - a back translation from its Latin name Volucella zonaria.The lack of any

respectively).While I'm not going to enter the record books for growing the tallest sunflower, I reckon I'm in with a chance of setting a new World Record for The Greatest Number Of Hoverflies You Can Squeeze Into A Four-Metre-Squared Garden. Everywhere I look

nestling in the overlapping planks.These are the puparia of hoverflies, probably Epistrophe elegans, a distinctive little pale orange and brown wasp mimic, often the first species to appear on the wing in March and April. Resembling smooth translucent

Reply to Heavy HorseThank you for your support. That fiver will be in the post as promised. Well I really enjoyed this post. Hoverflies are fascinating little critters and come in so many shapes and sizes. There are some amazing bumble bee mimics

"The Belted Hoverfly." A friend of mine in France was recently badly stung by the Asiatic hornet Volucella velutina, a recent import, which may well soon arrive in UK and whose chief occupation is killing honeybees. It should be looked out

but it was beautiful while it lasted and at over two metres had to be tied to a drainpipe. But the bush that gets hundreds, perhaps thousands of hoverfly visitors in my garden is the Lemon Balm, Melissa officinalis, which I love,leaves mixed with mint as a tea

In the bright heat of this week's baking sunlight, a buzz of black and orange fur announces the arrival of what I think is one our cuddliest hoverflies. Merodon equestis is a large (12 - 15mm long), stout, bumblebee mimic, and although not quite

I'm not ashamed to admit that I like dandelions. I think their flowers are beautiful, their leaves and form attractive (indeed considerably more so than many so-called ornamentals) and hoverflies seem to like them too.They can be a pain when

Sunday has been warm enough to sit outside, in a tee-shirt, so it's not surprising that there are still insects flying about. Today it was flies that caught my eye.Episyrphus balteatus is perhaps the commonest and most distinctive hoverfly

and hoverflies are still on the wing, foraging for food. Nectar provides insects with energy to fly and builds them up for winter hibernation. By growing just one source of nectar-rich food, you can improve these insects' chances of surviving the cold months