Insect for Identification

[Desiderata]

Hello

Could anyone identify this funny chap for me please.




Has he really got a beard or is it a trick of the light?

Thanks
Desi

[aeshna5]

One of the smaller hoverflies, tentatively Melanostoma scalare.

[Desiderata]

Thanks aeshna5

[Geoff F]

I think you will find that the 'beard' is actually it's tongue.

And I would say it definitely isn't Melanstoma. Possibly Eupeodes corollae, but I would like to see some other angles before reaching a firm decision.

Perhaps somebody else might like to offer a few suggestions.

[Desiderata]

Thanks Geoff F

I looked for pics of Eupeodes corollae but to be honest I don't think it's that either.

The search continues

[Geoff F]

From that angle, any suggestion will be something of a guess. But there are a few visible clues.

The scuttellum is yellow like the face, as far as we can see, and the frons is a little less than half black. The first 2 legs are almost all yellow while the hind leg femur is half black. The yellow abdomen banding reaches the abdomen edge. I think it is probably female.

So that should narrow things down a bit.

[Desiderata]

Sorry. I realise that one shot makes it very difficult but that's all I had chance to get. Her abdomen is quite slender I saw that as she flew away.

[Geoff F]

If the abdomen was particularly narrow I suppose a rather dark form of one of the Sphaerophoria species is possible. Not S. scripta though.

They usually have a yellow stripe down the side of the thorax but I suppose that from your photo angle a rather dusky stripe might be there but not clearly noticeable in that light.

However, I suspect that this will be another of those 'unidentified hoverfly' labels.

[Desiderata]

Hi Geoff

I have been following your suggestion and wandered off on another track, as you do, and found this one on wikipedia "Parasyrphus annulatus female".

I think it matches up even to being female. When you have time could you see what you think?

Thanks
Desi

[Geoff F]

Parasyrphus are a tricky bunch and you need good photos from several angles, or preferably a freshly dead specimen and a microscope.

P. annulatus is a southern species but is generally regarded as uncommon but can occasionally be found in well established woodland. It is a small species with a wing length around 6 to 8 mm.

But from what little I know of this group, I think that P. annulatus females have some yellow at both ends of the hind femur. And, like the other similar species, the hind tibia are at least half black.

P. vittiger has less black on the tibia but they are normally a species of northern pine woods.

It might be worth asking on the Hoverfly Recording Scheme site Hoverfly Recording Scheme - View Forum - General discussion alternatively, Roger Morris, from that site does regularly visit here so he might 'bump into this post' and impart some more informed wisdom.