Am I being too clever?

[IanP]

I identified this hover fly from it's orange triangular markings, but it may be a silly mistake. I can't recall seeing one before, but then they never stay still for long and it is a bit on the bulky side for a hover fly.

I got it as a Eristalis Arbustorum.

I also thought it was sitting on a Cow Parsley flower till I looked closely. Now I don't think it is. The nearest I can get is Greater Burnet-saxifrage.

[IanP]

Taking a cue from the thread title, the answer's Yes as far as the plant's concerned - I think it's Hogweed. Silly me!

[JRsbugs]

I think it's likely to be Eristalis horticola (lineata). I would have preferred to see the base of the hind femora, it should be pale.

Other pointers are the orange hind margins of the tergites (I have seen similar though in arbustorum!); pale hairs on T3&4 with maybe a small patch of black hairs on the hind margin; completely dull T2 (not really easily seen); sinuous dark band on the wings.

There is also a chance it could be E. abusiva as the mid tibia appears to be mostly pale. The spots on T2 spead onto T3; it has a brown shiny scutellum. I wouldn't expect it to have such dark sinuous bands on the wings though.

Result.. inconclusive without better views.

Janet

[IanP]

Thanks for that. When you know what to look for, you can get a better comparison. I hope Google has a translator for the technical bits, though.

[Anomalous]

Eristalis horticola

I agree it is this species. Common at the moment on Hogweed.

Ian