Insects on our Garden Ivy

8th October 2023

Had half an hour to spare so had a wander round the garden with the camera to try and spot some insects. Fairly quiet on the remaining flowers but the Ivy climbing up the Hawthorn was buzzing. At first I thought they were all bees but close inspection through the camera revealed that most were hoverflies, so I starting clicking and worried about identification later.

The first was one of the commonest hoverflies Eristalis pertinax, also known as the Tapered Drone Fly.

The second hoverfly is its cousin Eristalis tenax also known as the Common Drone Fly which can be identified by vertical rows of hairs on its eyes. These are difficult to see on these photos but more obvious if enlarged.

The third species is a male hoverfly Helophilus pendulus, also known as The Footballer because of the stripes on its thorax, although other species of hoverfly with stripes on their thorax are available.  The latin name means "dangling marsh-lover". These are quite common around our pond.

The fourth species is a female hoverfly Myathropa florea also known as the Batman or Death's Head Hoverfly because its markings resemble the Batman symbol.

And the last but not least species is a female Ivy Bee, how appropriately named. The Ivy Bee is a relative newcomer to the UK being first recorded in just 2001 with the first record for Hertfordshire in 2015.

A special thanks go to Simon Knott for help in identification of a couple of species.

Must get out in the garden more often.