StoneRoad2013's photos with the keyword: hoverfly

A late season hoverfly tucking into a late flower, down by the river. . Research indicates that this is Helophilus pendulas, also know as a "sun fly" from their habit of basking in sunlight, explains how I got close enough for this photograph ! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helophilus_pendulus Went back to check on the flowering plant, to see if I could make an identification. I think it is an Erysimum species, by the flower, the leaves are somewhat hairy ... there has been quite a patch of them in that area. Probably a garden escape, originally. The patch has had a long flowering season, producing largely white, or very pale pink flowers, with some strongly scented.

Either an example of Eristalis tenax, the drone-fly. Or it is Eristalis horticola [the more likely of the two]. I'm not an expert at these ...

I suspect that this visitor to my mint flowers is actually one of the hoverflies that mimic bees or wasps.