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Photo taken yesterday. Could it be some blackened form of Episyrphus balteatus? Thanks!

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Hello chickenold,

This is indeed Episyrphus balteatus. The amount of black is dependent on the temperature during pupation.

This is an inter-sex specimen with features of male and female strangely combined. The eyes are apart, but more closely then in a true female. There is also a bump on the tip of the abdomen, but not true genitalia of a male.

For a comparable tread:
http://www.diptera.info/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=43483&pid=190611#post_190611

I do not know if the darker colouration is due to the temperature or the specimen being a mix of two sexes.

Greetings,

Ectemnius