'tis a pusslememt!

[tcvarlh]

Anyone have an idea what this description might have been : Honey bee size, somewhat darker, similar in shape, no banding, dark gloss brown not a true black, less bee flight more hover-fly but without the hover and slow, flight as tho' the insect was struggling with a load or reluctant to fly. A wandering sort of flight. Wings settled akin to a bluebottle. No discernable bombination.

I wish I could give more info. I saw this last night at a friends place, and was trying to get a better look when the friends flea infected feline foulness they call Tiddle and I call foul and disgusting multilingual names unsuitable for persons under 50 to hear, leapt across the chair, made a swipe and swallowed me specimen. Blasted cats! Spawn o' Satan!
h

[Jason Green]

Morning H,

First off, was this indoors or out, and at what time of day approximately? Could you draw it? It may indeed have been a cold hoverfly...

Take care,

Jason

[Acutipuerilis]

Have a look at the sawflies like Abia sericea - they're more gold than gloss brown, but worth checking.

[xSarahx]

could it have been some kind of drone-fly? (eristalis species?

[Jonners]

We all know what happened to the old woman who swallowed a fly... perhaps your friend's cat might follow suit

[tcvarlh]

'Twas about 7pm and it followed my Godson in from the veranda which was stifling, so I don't think it was cold. Jason, I can draw a beer, end of my artistic talents. Sorry mate! I'll have a dekko at some of the suggestions made and get back if I find anything similar.

Personally, I would prefer to do a live autopsy on that rancid breathed eat-anything-that-has-been-laying-around-for-months-and-has-finally-gone green-then-proceed-to-throw-up-on-people's-shoes foetid stinking rat faced disease ridden misshapen lump of feline flesh Tiddle. Gods, I do hate THAT cat!

[tcvarlh]

Well Now. Both suggestions have species that look similar to the poor little morsel of manky-cat food from last night, so I'll have to leave it there, thanks for trying Folks, Sorry I couldn't give a better description. It was either a Drone-fly (my pref) or a very chilled-out Hover-fly.

h

[xSarahx]

yep, to me it definately sounds like a drone-fly. If you can remember exactly what it looks like, then you can use the following site to help you identify it:

Eristalis tenax

scroll down and on the left side, there is a list of latin names starting with eristalis. These are the drone flies. Click into them, and see what they look like. Note- colours/patterns may vary within a species.

Hope this helps

[Ape]

Hi, this is my theory:
Let's say Eristalis abusivus loaded with ivy nectar looking for place to rest or even hibernate. Could that be?