Hoverflies for Id please

[Toby]

always get them wrong so posting for positive ID, all SW London recent.

[Jason Green]

Evening Toby,

1: Eristalis sp., could be E. pertinax.

2: Likely Syrphus sp.

3: Epistrophe eligans

4: Sphaerophoria sp. - the bit you need is the genital capsule under the abdomen tip for an ID! External characters aren't reliable.

5: Syrphus sp.

Take care,

Jason

[Geoff F]

Agree with Jason.

The Eristalis does look like E. pertinax but we really need a slightly better view of the hind leg to be sure.

Syrphus males all look the same from a photo.

For the Sphaerophoria, I would say the long yellow stripe on the thorax edge, the V shaped marks on the abdomen tip and a longish abdomen all point to S. scripta. But, once again, Jason is correct in saying this isn't a definite ID.

[Toby]

Thanks, Hoverflies are a minefield apart from a few really different ones.