Black with little yellow patches fly for ID

DaiTheDragon · #1 (**permalink**) 15-05-2010, 03:20 PM

I thought I would be able to ID this myself but sorry I can't so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Dai

Jason Green · #2 (**permalink**) 15-05-2010, 04:53 PM

Afternoon Dai,

It's a Hoverfly from the Pipiza genus. Genital examination may be needed for certainty of some species as these can vary physically.

Take care,

Jason

Geoff F · #3 (**permalink**) 15-05-2010, 06:55 PM

At a guess, I would suspect P. luteitarsis as the yellow spots seem quite long. It should also have yellow tarsi on the front legs; but that isn't totally certain from your photo.

But as Jason said, there are a few similar species here. P. noctiluca and P. fenestrata in particular.

P. noctiluca is probably the commonest. P. luteitarsis is generally rather uncommon and tends to prefer woodland; particularly elm. So it would be a good find if that is the correct identification.

DaiTheDragon · #4 (**permalink**) 15-05-2010, 08:15 PM

Thank you both very much for your help. Could it be Pipiza bimaculata?

Dai

Geoff F · #5 (**permalink**) 16-05-2010, 10:20 AM

. . . and that is where things start to become very tricky!

P. bimaculata is a small species (wing length around 5 or 6 mm) and generally has black tarsi. From what I can see of just one foot, it appears to be rather pale which would favour P. noctiluca as the best guess (wing length 6 to 8 mm).

But, and there is always a but somewhere, some specimens of P. noctiluca can be considerably smaller than the average. Although there aren't any giant P. bimaculata, so that may help here, depending on your size estimate.