Female Hoverfly

Male Hoverfly

♂ Male or Female ♀

For most species of hoverflies, the males have larger eyes that meet in the middle (holoptic) whereas for females there is a gap (dioptic) this can be used out in the field for sexing – see below.

#HoverflyFact #Hoverflies

Hoverflies with wings loops

Hoverfly Wing Loops

#HoverflyFact #Hoverflies

Several hoverflies have a loop in their wing veins.
Common (Eristalis tenax) & Tapered Dronefly (E.pertinax) are just two on the wing at present.

Anyone seen any over the last few days?

I saw quite a few of the Tapered on my walk today.

ℹ️The Spotted Thintail like the Marmalade hoverfly are affected by temperature 🌡️ during development, a term called temperature-dependent phenotypic plasticity 🧠. So, if it is cold the emerging adult will be much darker in both scutellum and the abdomen banding than a summer brood. 📌
#HoverflyFact