The levels come to life

A visit to the Somerset levels this week. While this was primarily to listen to Bitterns and see the first returning Hobbies I managed to get pictures of a couple of Hovers new for the year .



Helophilus hybridus

It's always a pleasure to see something different to  the typical H. pendulus, the Tiger Marsh fly aka The Footballer. The one pictured here is known as the Wooly-tailed Marsh Fly and at least the males are distinctive with the huge yellow patches.


I have not yet seen the third member of the group with its yellow face but will keep looking.

Another one, new for the year, was the Stripe-faced Drone Fly ( Eristalis nemorum ). Though I didn't get to scrutinise the patterns in detail this species is the only one where males hover over the female as she feeds


Eristalis nemorum

I also caught  Black-kneed Fen Fly (Neoascia tenur) which I could compare with the yellow-kneed from Poole. 

A black fly sitting on some yellow flowers turned out to be Black Lagoon Fly. Under a microscope the eyes on this were extraordinary





Eristalinus sepulchralis

With a couple of other species my year list got to 38 which is not bad at all given the dreadful early weather. Hopefully I can hit 40 by the months end.

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