Tuesday 3 August 2021

Venus Pool - Volucella zonaria

We all have our Holy Grails and I have a number amongst the insect world. As for Hoverflies, there are much rarer species than my 'most wanted' but I've had Volucella zonaria in my thoughts for a couple of years now! The dream was about to come true whilst in the arable field at Venus Pool...

I was enjoying a Hoverfly mini-fest with nothing out of the ordinary when something extraordinary flashed in front of my nose (literally) OMG, a hornet I thought and dashed to the part of the hedge it had flown into... Yep, it was a 'Hornet' of sorts, the 'Hornet Hoverfly' and my dream had come true as it busily fed on some bramble nectar...




Blimey hat a beast! Dream fulfilled...






It seemed like half an hour had passed but in reality it was just a minute! Looking at the pictures, I realised I had been watching it for most of the minute while it was too high in the hedge to photograph!  I'll have to dream up another Holy Grail...