Hi,

I saw a striking-looking insect in our garden in Winchester, Hampshire, on 29th October. I had never seen this species before and would therefore be very interested to know what it is – hopefully somebody can identify the insect from my description! I noticed it on the large old tree stump in our garden which is now totally covered with ivy. It is a favourite feeding place for various insects in the autumn and I often spend a while watching the coming and going of the insects as it’s very interesting to see how many species I can spot! This particular day, 29th October, was typical in that I had already seen lots of honeybees, flies, wasps, hoverflies, and at least one Red Admiral butterfly. Because the old tree stump is tall, I have to use binoculars to identify insects which are feeding high up and I soon noticed what I thought was a wasp feeding right at the top of the ivy apart from the other insects. It looked large but when I looked at it through binoculars I was surprised to see that it wasn’t a wasp – in fact, I’d never seen anything like it before!

I assume it was a species of hoverfly but it wasn’t anything like the ones we usually see in our garden, including around the pond, which are yellow with horizontal black stripes on their bodies and vertical black stripes on their heads. [Can anybody tell me what this species is?] Luckily the insect stayed in one place long enough for me to make a note of its features. It was large (I’m quite sure it was bigger than the usual hoverfly species we have) and seemed to have very long wings. It had a dark maroon head with a patch of the same colour just below the head but above the lower part of the body. The lower part of its body was the most striking feature because it was a distinct orange colour with only 2 stripes. The stripes were much thicker than on our usual hoverfly species and were horizontal and very close together. I watched the insect for about 10 minutes and during the whole of that time it fed in the same place right at the top of the ivy and was therefore away from the busy insects lower down. It seemed to be the only member of its species because I looked hard and did not see any other insects like it.

I’ve heard that there are hundreds of hoverfly species found in the UK, but I also know that each one has its own unique markings and colour, so I really hope that someone can identify the insect described above – and tell me whether it really is a hoverfly! I’d also like to know what our usual species of hoverfly is – the yellow one with lots of thin horizontal black stripes on its body and vertical stripes on its head.

It sounds like a very interesting insect, thanks for the great description of it. I think you're probably right and that it is some kind of hoverfly although unfortunately I couldn't tell you which, although I'm sure someone here will be able to help you.

I know i am late on this, and you have probably got an id. But just in case. What about Volucella zonaria for the large hoverfly, and one of the Helophilus for the other. Possibly Helophilus pendulus, as they are common.

Chris.