Insect identification

[clearlake]

Help with the following would be much appreciated

[jamesthornton]

I think #2 and 3 are Hilara maura. No idea about the other two..

[Jason Green]

Afternoon CL,

#1 & 4 are Calypterate-types - very difficult from photos (and specimens!). The last is a hoverfly and without expert knowledge of these I feel it's best just labelled-up as a Syrphid (though Platycheirus is one suc possibility).

Take care,

Jason

[clearlake]

Thank you both for your help with the above. Much appreciated.

Geoff

[jezlee]

I think Hilara maura is probably the commonest of the Dance Flies in the UK, but I believe there are over 60 species, and extremely difficult to tell apart!

Incidentally, those swollen areas on the front legs are silk glands, I believe, and indicate it is a male fly. He evidently uses these to wrap up a present for a female during courtship.

[Geoff F]

From that angle, I can't be sure if the hoverfly is male or female, but it looks more like a male. In which case we have a problem with Platycheirus because the front tarsus doesn't seem to be expanded.

Which, to me, leaves an oddly marked Melanstoma or a dark form of something like Melangyna or even Meliscaeva.

Another for the 'pending file' I suggest.

[clearlake]

Many thanks for both of the above. My focus in the past has been on dragonflies, which are relatively easy to identify. I now recognise that I have moved in to a whole new world with other orders and numbers of species, and that identification is extremely difficult even in the hand.

Geoff