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Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, and to the study of Diptera. Having recently taken some photos of insects here in Aberdeen, UK, I'm now trying to identify these or check their identities as part of the learning process. This is the first of my Diptera observations, the remaining few will be posted in due course. Please let me know if I am doing anything wrong with the way I am posting these.


Many thanks in advance for any identifications.

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Hi, identifying flies from an overall picture without even knowing the size is very difficult. Of course, some experts can obviously do this in many cases. If you have a serious interest in hoverflies, I would recommend M.P van Veen: Hoverflies of Northwest Europe. KNNV Publishing, 2nd edition 2010. Without real collecting and studying at the binocular it is practically impossible to get an understanding of flies. This specimen could be a Chrysogaster ...

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Welcome to the forum! This single pic does not show enough characters for identification. It is a male, however, and possibly belongs to genus Melanostoma.
Regards, Sundew

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I see, tyrolean's reply was a bit faster. Well, I do not believe in Chrysogaster as to the yellow legs and antennae. The shape is too slender as well. I bet the abdomen was yellow-spotted!

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I agree with Sundew: It could be Melanostoma as well. It was just the greenish-metallic shine which let me think of Chrysogaster. But then, I never identify flies from photos, I always look at them and have the key next to me. I have seen many "misidentifications" from first glance. But of course, someone who is an expert can do it, especially in the "simpler" families like Syrphidae (apart from Cheilosia)

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I've seen flies very closely resembling this further south in Cheshire. Upon close examination, they had yellow spotted abdominal regions as Sundew describes. It was the iridescent brassy abdomen that first drew my attention though, because I've seen larger flies belonging to the Genus Sargus, from the same location, that exhibit this feature.

There's a nice page on common UK Syrphids here, but the photos of the two Melanostoma species are a bit of a let down. Though it's not really the page author's fault, because I've found that these flies are tricky to photograph well, particularly in the wild when they're able to launch themselves away from the camera at a moment's notice!!

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Many thanks to everyone for your kind and helpful replies.

@tyrolean: thanks for the comment on the difficulty of identification. I shall try to include some object in the photo from now on that indicates the size of the insect. Many thanks also for the info on the van Veen publication.

@Sundew: Sorry, I didn't see the Syrphidae forum when I was posting - I see however that my post has now been transferred over to that forum which is great. I'm sure that the additional photos add nothing to what we can see in the photo posted above. Thanks for the info on the different angles - I will endeavour to do this from now on. How do you know that it is a male?

@Calilasseia: that's interesting, many thanks also for the link. I wish I could go back in time now and try to get a photo of the underbelly!

I will post the other photos of this observation here. I'm not sure they will add much though. The abdomen is a little more visible through the wings in the first one however. Out of interest, what are those two yellow dots on either side of the wings?

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3rd photo.

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4th photo.

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5th and last photo.

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Hello,
That is not necessary, just estimate the size. I fixed a small piece of a scale on my camera, this is helpful.
The new pics do not tell us more, so I stay with Melanostoma spec. The thorax and scutellum are extraordinarily golden, it is true, but I suppose it is a matter of light and reflection.
The males of many Syrphids are characterized by their touching eyes, whereas females' eyes are separated. The yellow knobs below the wings are the halters or halteres, the reduced second wing pair. To learn the anatomy of flies, this atlas is very helpful: http://www.ento.c...y/fly.php#.
Enjoy fly photographing!
Regards, Sundew