Marmalade Hoverfly

Marmalade hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus, on hairy St. John's wort, Hypericum hirsutum,
on Orchis Bank, Downe.  25 June 2011.

This is the commonest hoverfly locally, and it's very pretty with the alternating large and small black stripes on a yellow background, which give it its common name. In the first photo, a female is feeding on Hairy St. John's Wort in one of Charles Darwin's old study areas. It's good to see some of the less common St. John's Worts.

I took lots of photos of this species in 2011.   It seems to go for yellow flowers, which it sets off beautifully, and I also often saw it hovering in woodland clearings.

Here is a male on a flower of Bristly Oxtongue on one of my favourite locations, the border of the Hayes Station car park.

Marmalade hoverfly, Episyrpus balteatus, male, on a flower of Bristly Oxtongue, Picris echioides,
at the edge of Hayes Station car park, 26 July 2011.