Hoverflies

Gaze upon any flowerbed in Didsbury Park during the warmer half of the year and you’ll no doubt find a number of hoverflies. Though similar in appearance to some of our stinging insects, hoverflies are in fact harmless, and only present themselves as otherwise as a defense mechanism. A great example is the species pictured, the hornet mimic hoverfly, which has the intimidating size and distinct colouration of the fearsome European hornet, but is all buzz no string!  We have a huge variety of hoverflies here in the UK, with over 280 species spanning a range of shapes, sizes and colours.