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Early hoverfly

by Gill Smith

After a cold winter with more snow than the past twenty years or so the first warm sunshine of spring brought out a few insects. I spotted half a dozen dark, rather dozy hoverflies feeding on a south-facing bank of winter heliotrope Petasites fragrans at Oswaldkirk. I managed to get a half-decent shot as they were cold and therefore slow! This is the common Drone fly Eristalis tenax.

Hoverfly Eristalis tenax

Photos © Gill Smith 2009