Beaded

Male Beaded Chrysotoxum (Chrysotoxum festivum)

The hoverflies are certainly swarming around the flowers these days, and we're finding all sorts of new ones for the garden — including this very distinctive Beaded Chrysotoxum (Chrysotoxum festivum). The colour hasn't really come across in the pictures, but those paler stripes have an almost neon green tinge. The yellow bars on the sides of the thorax (the part of the fly that its wings attach to), the rusty wings with their darker spot, the long antennae (for a hoverfly), and the bold "D" in the middle of its back are also eye-catching.  The adults feed on nectar and pollen, and are said to be particularly fond of thistles and umbellifers, both of which we have in abundance in and around our property. As with many species of hoverfly, the larvae are carnivorous; they're thought to specialise on aphids that feed on plant roots. The Beaded Chrysotoxum is found in grassy areas, heaths, and open scrub, primarily in the southern half of Britain. In Essex, it's apparently particularly common on post-industrial waste sites! Though widespread in Britain, it's still not particularly common; with our sighting, there are only eight records for our half of Norfolk in the national database, for example. Its population has increased since the 1980s and its range has expanded northwards since the early 2000s, with records from as far north as Scotland, mostly along the coast. Elsewhere, it's found in much of Europe, and across Siberia to the Pacific coast, with disjunct populations in Japan and northern India. It flies from May to September, with numbers peaking in June and August. Plenty of time to see another one or two, with any luck.