Article by Tim Corner and Tessa Ivison
Hoverflies, as their name suggests are part of the fly family (Diptera), and well, they hover. In fact they hover so well, they may appear stationary - they have even had a helicopter named after them!
Like the rest of the fly family, hoverflies have large compound eyes and only two wings while most other insects have four. Many species sport conspicuous wasp-like markings. Hoverflies love the sun, so next time the sun puts in an appearance is when you are most likely to see them hovering in your garden or basking on a leaf.
The hoverfly pictured is one of two species, Leuconzona lucorum and Volucella pellucens that are both common and easy to identify. Both have abdomens with a broad pale band and a central dark interruption. V. pellucens is larger than L. lucorum and the pale band on the abdomen is white rather than yellow.
On occasion BRERC receives calls from people who are convinced that they have seen Hornets Vespa crabro in their garden. On further investigation these usually turn out to be either Volucella zonaria or the queens of Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris. Hornets are less frequent than many people imagine. However, in 2003 there were a couple of confirmed records of Hornet and it seems that it was been a relatively good year for them in our area with several also recorded in adjacent counties.
And that is one reason why we never discount records of uncommon species without appropriate investigation.