Fly ID's please

[sebastianbawn]

Pic one is a Crane fly, I think Tipula but not sure what species.
Pic two is a hoverfly

Species and sex are welcomed guys

[Geoff F]

The Crane Fly is difficult to correctly identify from that angle but certainly looks rather like a Tipula species. You may find this site useful Flies page 1

The hoverfly appears to be one of the Syrphus species but we would need a good shot of the hind leg to go any further.

[Jason Green]

Afternoon Seb,

The first does appear to be a Tipula sp.

The second looks OK for a Syrphus sp., but to get further you need either a great shot of the eyes or a specimen to look for hairs (if so, thus ruling out ribesii, vitripennis and the rare rectus), and if without then a good look for microtrichia in the basal cells. If with, it could be ribesii, or without it then vitripennis. As I've discovered from a specimen, rear leg colour can be a touch unreliable, I believe the hind femora has to be at least 70% black to consider it. I had one under the 'scope the other day where about 65% of the femora was black making me think it was vitripennis, but a very long and close look at the wings revealed all the cells had microtrichia in/on them!

I'm not too sure how to separate ribesii & vitripennis from rectus, which is pretty rare! I've heard the black abdominal markings appear browner, but I don't know how reliable that is.

I need the Hoverflies of Great Britain!

Take are,

Jason

[JRsbugs]

The Syrphus could easily be S. ribesii, a good part of the hind femora is visible. Female S. ribesii have all yellow hind femora, or at most black just at the base.

Janet

[sebastianbawn]

Thanks all for your help, It is great to learn new things from you all. Thank you Jason for your detailed answer