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Hi all,

Taken yesterday on Hydrangea, Lincoln UK.

This was very small and very thin. If I guessed a length I would say 6-8mm. Sorry I couldn't do a bigger pic! I would be pleased if anyone could ID it from this.

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A female Sphaerophoria!
There are a few which can be identified from a picture, but otherwise they are just not possible to identify, even with specimens. Normally the most abundant in the genus is Sphaerophoria scripta.
It could be that species, but there's no proof for that!
Greetings,

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Thank you Gerard! Now I see the likeness to Sphaerophoria, but this fly was much smaller than the one I thought was Sphaerophoria scripta. :|

You say they are difficult to identify, the pictures I see of Sphaerophoria scripta all look like this other one I have, they must be wrong? :o

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Well, the general idea about Sphaerophoria scripta is that the abdomen is longer than it's wings when they are laid back. At least, that goes for the males! In females that is quite tricky to say so! Scripta is in general the most common in north west Europe, so a lot of people like to call a female Sphaeroporia immediatly scripta.
Your picture shows a fresh specimen with a short abdomen, and they can be very small!
So therefore in my opinion it's Sphaerophoria sp. female!B)
greetings

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Ah, yes I see what you mean, it can be so complicated and so much to learn! I have the better camera coming, I can see I will also end up getting the books too!

Thanks again! :)