Photos taken of some of the Hoverfly specimens determined by HRS

Before taking specimens of hoverflies I managed to photograph a few before potting, the ones below are a mixture of what can be done by photos and what can't. Of the 283 species in Britain only 125 can be identified from photographs with any confidence and the Hoverfly Recording Scheme [rightly so] will only accept records of the other 158 species if a specimen has been provided or you have proved yourself as a proven observer. Of the 126 specimens taken I still managed to get 4 wrong under magnification at home before sending them to Roger Morris including the Pipiza and Xylota below. Which just goes to show three years of intense study is still not enough to identify all hoverfly species. 

 Pipiza noctiluca - not conclusive from photo

 Cheilosia albitarsis - dark-legged variation, not conclusive from photo

 Chrysogaster solstitialis - can be ID'd from this photo

 Melangyna lasiophthalma -  can be ID'd from this photo

 Platycheirus Scutatus - can be ID'd to scutatus agg. [3 species] but no further from photo

Xylota jakutorum - the second tergite [body segment] looks longer than wider in the photo [squared in jakutorum] suggesting "florum" but the micro-hair colouring on the legs under magnification say otherwise. So these two species can't really be separated from photos.