NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

We were in the garden a couple of days ago when Katrina suddenly backed away from me (I cannot blame her) and exclaimed "I don't like the look of that!" She had just seen this... I was able to immediately put her at rest by telling her that it didn't sting, although it was very big and looked like a hornet - it was, in fact a hoverfly - Volucella zonaria , a hornet mimic. They are magnificent insects and illustrate how varied the hoverflies are, with some in comparison being tiny wisps of things. I've recorded two other Volucella in the garden, both large, arresting and most probably responsible for many a sudden panic in back gardens up and down the country.. Volucella pellucens Volucella inanis

The Fly Trap by Fredrik Sjoberg (Particular Books) This is a gem of a book. The author lived on, and studied, the hoverflies that occurred on the Swedish island of Runmaro. Although the theme of the book deals with his obsessional entomological studies, it is but a small part of what is a most engrossing and surprising read. Written 10 years ago, the book has only just been translated into English. His precise writing style, superb turn of phrase and restrained dry humour make it a delight from beginning to end. You are lead away from the core subject on almost every page - from a potted history of the great Swedish naturalist/explorers (particularly Rene Malaise), the nature of collecting, the speed (or lack of it) of life, how to tackle the public, why we form imaginary islands in pursuit of our goals, the reading of the landscape - plus the small little subject of life itself. It is a book of many facets, all that I found entrancing. On more than one occasion I found myself...

This is another one of the big, easy to do hoverflies - Volucella inanis . (Not as easy to do as I blithely claimed. Andrew Cunningham has quite rightly pointed out that this is V. zonaria) It barged it's way past all of the puny flies, wasps and beetles to land on some ivy and show off its awesome build. They really are spectacular these large hoverflies. If only they were all as easy to identify - but there again there wouldn't be any challenge, would there?

This is Volucella pelluscens . It's a hoverfly and it's one that you, me and the person with no natural history knowledge at all can safely identify, because it is large and has a body coloured and patterned like a Giant Panda - all you need to do is master the Latin name to score extra brownie points. The garden MV is being hogged by Tree-lichen Beauties and Jersey Tigers at the moment. Who could have predicted that a few years ago? I'm still hopeful of a screaming rarity coming my way, but in the meantime have to make do with these recent colonists.