Day 315 - Looking Gorgeous - Leucozona glaucia

Leucozona glaucia

Hi everyone, today's Day 315, just 50 more posts till I've completed the year. That seems just amazing to me as I started wondering if I'd be able to see enough in a year to finish it. As I've gone on with the year though, the more I look the more I find there is to see. This is only the fourth or fifth type of this insect that I have covered and there are 250 species in Britain. If you've followed my blog you may remember that that is the number of hoverfly species in the UK. This one is a bit different as it doesn't have any yellow on it but it is still trying to look as if it's an insect you shouldn't mess with. Today I'm talking about Leucozona glaucia, an insect I'm sure you all know about. That's another thing about the number of species sometimes that Roger Key mentioned to me, there are so many and some look so alike that sometimes they don't have common names and you have to rely on the latin name.

Anyway, its really pretty especially on these flowers, so I looked it up and this is what I found out:

• It may be a scarce species of hoverfly, more common in the north and west of the country.

Bugs Eye View

• When you do see it it's likely to be along woodland rides, places where there is a break in the woodland and lots of flowers grow for it to feed on. I saw this in Silton Forest on a path exactly like this.

• A number of sites say it is widespread but quite local - so there are little pockets of them all over the country.

• The edges of woodland seem to be what it prefers not only for the flowers but also for the shade.

• Their larvae feed on aphids on the ground, so gardeners like Dad like these insects. The adulta are good pollinators too.

• Adults feed on nectar on umbeliferous plants like Hogweed and Angelica.

• You will most likely see it between July and August but it has been seen between May and October.

Sharing an umbel

• Not sure about this species but some hoverflies can fly at up to 40km and hour.

• While they look like stinging insects they are harmless and have no sting - they rely on mimicing wasps and bees for protection.

•  They are true flies and only have one set of wings - bees and wasps have two.

• They only live for a few weeks as adults.

So If you want to find out more try these sites

Nature Spot - Leucozona glaucia

National Insect Week - Hoverflies

Hoverfly Recording Scheme - Leucozona glaucia

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.