Today's hovers, bee, flies - ID help pls!

Dillybythesea · #1 (**permalink**) 28-10-2011, 05:43 PM

Lots of Colletes hederae still about today and other things I'd not seen for awhile, so have been dusting off my notes to try to decide what's what, and as ever would greatly appreciate a steer...
I'm thinking Riponennsia splendens female for this:

An aberrant Andrena thoracica for this:

Odd sort of Not-a clue fly for this:

Would it be a female Eupeodes luniger here:

And if it's a male is it safe to say Sphaerophoria scripta if the wings are short like this:

This I'm wondering if you'd go with Melanostoma mellinum praps, although it seemed to be bigger than I remember them:

And lastly there were some of these tinies, I just wonder roughly what are?

Thanks for any help!

Jason Green · #2 (**permalink**) 28-10-2011, 06:03 PM

The third looks like my Dilophus febrilis specimen, the female has colourless wing-tips. You saw the last, a Crossocerus sphecid, today?

Dillybythesea · #3 (**permalink**) 28-10-2011, 06:10 PM

Hi Jason! I shall go looking for your Dilophus febrilis then, which I've not heard of. And yes these are all today's pics. I shall gooogle Crossocerus sphecid as well then (ditto above!) as I infer it's as unseasonable as the Andrena thoracica?!

Geoff F · #4 (**permalink**) 28-10-2011, 08:05 PM

Without doing any checking of details, I was wondering about Platycheirus albimanus instead of Melanstoma.

But both species do vary quite a lot in size.

Dillybythesea · #5 (**permalink**) 28-10-2011, 09:15 PM

Hi Geoff - Thank you. Now you say that, I'm thinking you're right with Platycheirus - and going back to the summer and Roger's help, often the answer seemed to be P. scutatus. And with females they seemed to have to be aggregated and not sensu stricto, if my notes still make sense. Ah well - nice that there's still stuff about!