Hoverflies

All images on this website have been taken in Leicestershire and Rutland by NatureSpot members. We welcome new contributions - just register and use the Submit Records form to post your photos. Click on any image below to visit the species page. The RED / AMBER / GREEN dots indicate how easy it is to identify the species - see our Identification Difficulty page for more information. A coloured rating followed by an exclamation mark denotes that different ID difficulties apply to either males and females or to the larvae - see the species page for more detail.

Hoverflies are a fascinating group of insects. They belong to the family Syrphidae, a family within the order Diptera (true flies). As they are often brightly coloured and very common in gardens many people will be familiar with them. Many have black and yellow markings and so are often confused with bees and wasps. However hoverflies are totally harmless and are definitely a gardener's friend, as the larvae of several common species have a voracious appetite for aphids! Very few hoverflies have common names. Indeed, those that do exist are not always widely known and agreed by all. For this reason we have primarily used the latin names (everyone agrees on these!) but mentioned the common names when we know of them. There are over 280 species of hoverflies in Britain and around 140 of these have been recorded in Leicestershire and Rutland (VC55). However not many people record hoverflies so there may be more to be found! The species on this page represent about half of the VC55 total and generally include the more common species. More will added as images are contributed to NatureSpot.

Leicestershire and Rutland resources

LESOPS 1 - The Hoverflies of Some Woodlands in Leicestershire - John Kramer

LESOPS 3 - The Hoverflies of a Leicester Garden - Neil Frankum

LESOPS 47 - Hoverfly Recording in Leicestershire and Rutland - Brian Wetton

Other useful websites and publications

UK Hoverflies Facebook Group - invaluable resource for beginners. ID's and ID guidance given by regular experts, including Roger Morris.

Hoverfly Recording Scheme - information about all UK hoverfly species.

British Hoverflies - a hoverfly enthusiast's site with lots of quality photos.

Steve Falk's hoverflies - an excellent image collection from one of the best UK entomologists.

Roger Morris, a national expert on hoverflies, has posted an interesting blog on identifying hoverflies from photos, concluding that around 60% of species are possible.

British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide - Stubbs & Falk. If you are serious about getting to grips with hoverflies, this is the bible. It is very comprehensive and has colour plates of most species plus descriptions and a key to all UK species.

Britain's Hoverflies: An Introduction to the Hoverflies of Britain (WILDGuides) by Ball and Morris, less technical than Stubbs and Falk, but covers all known UK species and is be geared towards those that can be ID'd from photos.

If you know of other websites or books that you would recommend, do let us know: info@naturespot.org