Rear view hoverfly!

[Hedera]

I think this is S. ribesii, but what is it doing?

[Jason Green]

Afternoon Hed,

It's a Eupeodes species, and probably luniger. Did it seem mobile?

Do you have any further photos?

Take care,

Jason

[Hedera]

Hi Jason,
It flew away after a minute or two and didn't seem anything wrong with it. That's the only shot that came out. Thanks for trying!

[Action_Man]

They wander about on plants looking for Aphids, if see enough of them, then they will drop an egg pretty close by, just a suggestion ...

[Jason Green]

...would have been mine too should it be female

[JRsbugs]

Originally Posted by Jason Green

...would have been mine too should it be female

By the looks of the amount of hair between the eyes I would say it is female, Eupeodes luniger, and probably egg laying.

Janet

[Hedera]

Thanks all! Well, I didn't notice the state until I processed the photo. It was a female, but she didn't leave an egg. Do they just drop them in flight?

[Jason Green]

The female will seek-out an area with plenty of aphid prey (depending on species), and lay some of them in amongst them. You'll see them moging slowly around stems, seemingly in a state of indecisiveness as it looks for somewhere with a lot.

[Action_Man]

I have only seen them lay on plant stems, near large groups of Aphids, highly unlikely that they lay eggs in mid-air ...

[JRsbugs]

I've seen them laying eggs on dahlia buds where there's aphids below, and on leaves. The eggs are very small and difficult to see unless you happen to pick it up in a photo.