Halfway House Ivy, Llangynwyd

A break in the weather meant I could get away from the computer and editing South Africa photos for a while. This time of year is when the Ivy starts to bloom and is a magnet for hoverflies. So I visited this site as it has a large bank of Ivy easily accessible and at head height. To my surprise the Ivy was nowhere near blooming and will possibly be 3 weeks away from opening. Nevertheless the flies were staring to gather there and Platycheirus albimanus and Eristalis pertinax were basking on the leaves. A little up the path was a small stand of Devilsbit Scabious, about 10 flower-heads, patrolling this area was a Rhingia species only when I got close enough did I realise that it was a Rhingia rostrata which is only the third record for the valley of this much rarer species. A quick search of the Hoverfly Recording Scheme records shows that September is the peak time for this species as the second brood is much more numerous than the first in May/June. The second brood flies from late August to mid October. It is also the first one I've been able to photograph.

         

 Rhingia rostrata - shorter snout, orange legs, light grey/blue thorax and no dark edge to the abdomen separates it from the closely related and very common Rhingia campestris (see below)

Old record shot of Rhingia campestris which differs in having longer snout, brown/ dark thorax, dark legs and a dark edge to the top of the abdomen [tergites is the scientific name, with sternites being the under abdomen sections]

Eristalis pertinax