Today's friend, is this cheerful hoverfly! Surely in the Syrphus genus, and likely a female S. ribesii - the common banded hoverfly! I say likely, as there are three main Syrphus species of hoverfly found in the UK that are very hard to distinguish, luckily this lady has a distinctive yellow hind femur or I'd have no hopes of an ID 😊

Their strange slug-like larvae feed on aphids, helping to keep plants healthy, and the adults feed on nectar while helping to pollinate flowers 🥰

#bug #bugs #nature #biology #entomology #BugsOfMastodon #wasps #photography #insects #bugPosting

Today's friend, is this cheerful hoverfly! Surely in the Syrphus genus, and likely a female S. ribesii - the common banded hoverfly! I say likely, as there are three main Syrphus species of hoverfly found in the UK that are very hard to distinguish, luckily this lady has a distinctive yellow hind femur or I'd have no hopes of an ID 😊

Their strange slug-like larvae feed on aphids, helping to keep plants healthy, and the adults feed on nectar while helping to pollinate flowers 🥰

#bug #bugs #nature #biology #entomology #BugsOfMastodon #wasps #photography #insects #bugPosting