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This hoverfly has the U bend in the wing vein, characteristic of Eristalis. Can anyone help with the ID please?


Click here to see larger image >> http://www.imagei...7Ko-XL.jpg

Thank you

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Helophilus sp.:)

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Thank you;). I have searched on the web and it looks very similar to Helophilus affinis. The abdomen markings seem to be identical. Would you agree?

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Hi Peter,

It's highly unlikely to be H. affinis, check the map and what is said about it here:

http://www.hoverf...c.php?t=90

The most common one is H. pendulus, the amount of yellow on the legs does suggest that. It looks like a male.

Apart from another extremely unlikely one, Helophilus groenlandicus, we only have H. pendulus, trivittatus and hybridus of which the latter two don't fit yours.

Janet :)

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Thanks for your reply and info Janet.

I have looked up the Hoverfly recording data you linked to. The map shows only one siting in the Shetlands (not surprising when the movement of this species is from the Denmark area - south).Based on this info, I too think it unlikely to be H. affinis. I then looked up H. pendulus on the following site http://cucaera.co...s+pendulus and compared images. There are distinct differences in the abdomen tail between my image and those on the site. The third tergite yellow markings are not straight (they are inclined upwards). The tail end of the abdomen lacks the additional black stripes shown on H. pendulus. The thickness of the horizontal lines is thinner on my image. In summary, unlikely or not, bears more in common with H. affinus. I do hope I am not making a fool of myself but my starting point was that I wanted to believe it was H. pendulus.

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The keys use different criteria, and I think the angle of your fly is giving you the impression of an upward incline but looking at my pics they all look to have an upward incline and look just like yours. They do vary a little in the markings, but yours looks fairly typical for a male H. pendulus to me.

If searching for look-alike images, the best way to do that is to do a site search here which will more likely give confirmed images of H. affinis which is really the most appropriate image to be looking for.

http://www.dipter...p;chars=50

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Thanks for your reply Janet;)

I have carried out a site search for both on here. The examples for H. affinis have a black tip to the abdomen which certainly is not present on my image. I wish I had done a site search before:| it would have avoided me raising this again and making a fool of myself.

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Peter, don't worry about making a fool of yourself. It's all part of the learning process, and this is probably a good place to find out what to look for as there's plenty of diptera specialists to help.

I started much the same as you have, with little knowledge and floundering to find my way. Slowly but surely you learn where to look, and if possible to try to use keys.

Another good way to hone your eye is to keep looking in the different families in the gallery here.

Keep plodding on, you will get better in a few years time! :D From one who knows about that.

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I agree it's good to look at affinis with some Helophilus individuals - but if it is possible, a specimen would be needed to back it up I'd think. I'm sure Roger would be happy to look at one - try the Hoverfly Recording Scheme forum - you're a member there, I believe,

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Thanks Janet fo your words of comfort. I am too old to worry too much about making a fool of myself though:). One thing I have learnt in life is never to be afraid to question and enquire. Through this we learn. I welcome all comments and advice and always have had constructive comments made to me in my posts which I try to use to learn more.
You have provided me with lots of helpful advice and I agree that this is, without doubt, the best place to come for Diptera questions. In almost every case I have had someone reply to my posts requesting IDs. I also agree that I am at the very start of the learning curve but I am determined to improve.

Cheers for now

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Good evening Jason
Thanks for your comments above. Firstly, you reminded me to reply to Janet (which I have now done). Yes, I am a member of the other forum but did not post this query on there as I was not 100% sure of my ground and, to be honest with you, had the ID been H. affinis I would have let Roger know. Apart from the ID questions I raised, I believe that they have spread south as far as the alps so it did not seem impossible that some had found their way to my area direct from the continent rather than down the UK. Anyway, that ia all in the past.

Take care

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This is a male H. pendulus, no doubt. In H. affinis, the hind margin of tergites is black.

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Thank you Stephane:)

I must agree that this was one of the characteristics which sold me on this too. The confusion I had, as Janet pointed out, was caused by looking at images from another site which seemed to suggest the opposite of this. I have learnt a great lesson. There is a lot of info on the web and some of this is mis-leading. I try to get positive (where this is humanly posible from photographs!) IDs before classifying them in my collection. I am very confident with these from this site and shall always use this expert help I get here to learn.