HoverflySpotterM.D
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hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
HoverflySpotterM.D
@hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
45 followers 72 following 47 posts
Naturalist, Environmental Biologist and Data Analyst specialising in hoverflies. Trustee of the British Naturalist Association & recipient of the Richard Fitter medal.
My site https://hoverflyspotter.blogspot.com is about Hoverflies & Nature's Joy.
Posts Replies Media Videos
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
Last night attended a talk by @davegoulson.bsky.social on insect declines, organised by Western Sussex rivers trust. Super talk highlighting the impact of neonicotinoids/insecticides use not only in farming but surprisingly on our pets. #Pesticides #Pets. #Pollinator #Insects #Moths #Butterflies
Insect Declines, Pesticides and Pet Parasiticides with Dave Goulson
wsrt.org.uk
November 27, 2025 at 12:03 PM
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
My latest blog is on Barnsley Bright Nights festival! 🌟 Stunning nature-themed art installations that remind us of something vital.🌿✨ #BarnsleyBrightNights #Barnsley
@barnsleychronicle.bsky.social, @barnsleymht.bsky.social, @barnsleymuseums.bsky.social, @barnsleycivic.bsky.social, @rspb.bsky.social
Bright Nights Festival
Experience Barnsley’s Bright Nights Festival 2025 –Stunning nature-themed art Installations that remind us of the importance to connect with nature.
hoverflyspotter.blogspot.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Reposted by HoverflySpotterM.D
flygirlnhm.bsky.social
Been a while but well done @nytimes.com for todays #taxonomicfail (and @bfly52.bsky.social for pointing this out)

Do love a Spelling Syrphid Forum..
September 3, 2025 at 10:20 AM
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
Bright Night festivals light up the UK! Barnsley’s ‘The Collectors’ by Bethan Maddocks blends art & nature beautifully. Such an Inspiration 🌙✨
#Nature #Light #Illuminations #Art #ArtAppreciation #NatureIllustration #HiddenWonders #Autumn #EcoEducation #Birds #Insects #Moths #Butterflies #Ladybirds
November 23, 2025 at 5:19 PM
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
🐛 Hoverfly Genera 🐝
🌿 Discover Volucella hoverflies with an acrostic postcard of fascinating facts! 🦋 Learn & share!
#Nature #Hoverflies #EcoEducation #Biodiversity #Flies #Insects #Pollinator #Diptera #Syrphidae #FunFacts #Entomology #Art #ArtAppreciation #NatureIllustration
Volucella genera acrostic postcard of fascinating facts
November 22, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by HoverflySpotterM.D
chrismothman.bsky.social
Great that our work near to Beth Chatto Gardens is reaching big audiences!
Half a day's filming for a couple of minutes isn't bad!
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Gardeners' World - 2025: Episode 32
With winter fast approaching, Monty has dahlias to lift and store, leafmould to make, and tulips and wallflowers to plant in pots. He also takes root cuttings from a favourite herbaceous perennial.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by HoverflySpotterM.D
jeffollerton.bsky.social
The #ProPollSoil project has officially got underway, coming together to explore two big questions: How does the health of our soils shape the fate of #pollinators? And how do pollinators influence #soil health?

Read more here: jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/11/21/c...

#bees #biodiversity #MissionSoil
Connecting soils and pollinators: the ProPollSoil project kicks off in Germany!
The ProPollSoil project officially got underway on 1st October, and this week (16th–20th November) our consortium gathered in Freising, Germany, for the kick-off meeting hosted by the Technical Uni…
jeffollerton.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 1:38 PM
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
Volunteering at #RSPB Old Moor yesterday, cleaning out a pond - searching for Hairy #Dragonfly nymphs (Brachytron pratense). Adults recently discovered at the site. NBN- handful of records North of Leeds. 🐉 #Nature #Insects #Pondlife #ClimateChange #Conservation #Biodiversity. Nymphs relocated.
Water spider, pea mussel, sticklebacks, backswimmers, pond and ramshorn snails all relocated.
November 20, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by HoverflySpotterM.D
craftygreenpoet.bsky.social
My latest post on my Crafty Green Substack is about common vs scientific names for wildlife, focussing on hoverflies. The hoverfly in the photo is known variously as Tiger, Footballer or Sunfly. A mention to @hoverflyspotter.bsky.social for his commitment to common names substack.com/home/post/p-...
A Rose by Any Other Name....
Thoughts about scientific vs common names, and yes the photo is a hoverfly not a rose
substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Reposted by HoverflySpotterM.D
ianbeavis.bsky.social
And Episyrphus balteatus (Marmalade Hoverfly) basking with wings spread. You usually see it with folded wings.
November 17, 2025 at 10:33 PM
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
Weird link alert! 📖 🐝 🍯
What connects the Bible, a hoverfly and a tin of treacle —curious? Click below!
#NatureMystery #FunFacts #CuriosityUnlocked #Hoverflies #Flies #Insects #Nature #Myth #Art #Curiosity #HiddenWonders
The Myth of Bugonia
Exploring an unexpected link between a biblical riddle (Judges 14:14), a tin of treacle, and the fascinating hoverfly known as the Common Dronefly
hoverflyspotter.blogspot.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Reposted by HoverflySpotterM.D
alexwild.bsky.social
Screen cap of the xkcd cartoon, "Welcome to the Biology Department. It has been three days since we discovered something existentially horrifying about bugs that makes you question your whole reality."
November 17, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by HoverflySpotterM.D
naturebureau.bsky.social
Dr Erica McAlister with the 3 authors (Steven Falk, Gail Ashton & Rory Dimond) who gave a presentation for the
@dipteristsforum.bsky.social Dipterists Day in Cambridge about the #FliesofBritainandIreland. Due for publication late Jan/early Feb 2026 @gailashton.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social
November 17, 2025 at 2:40 PM
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
Fungi Art –
Mushroom stands alone,
Grassland whispers to the wind,
Birds paint the blue sky.
#fungi #mushrooms #mycology #fungifriends #nature #autumnvibes
A grassland scene created as a reflection on a fungi
November 16, 2025 at 12:21 PM
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
My Species of the Week: Common Dainty(Baccha elongata) A review of its various common names, its distribution, habitats found, morphology, & suggestion of places to look for its larva. Hope you will visit and enjoy the read.
#flies #Insects #pollinator #nature #syrphidae #knowledge #biology #diptera
Hoverfly - Common Dainty (Baccha elongata)
The Common Dainty: A review of its various common names, its distribution, habitats, adult morphology and suggestion of places to look for its larva.
hoverflyspotter.blogspot.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Reposted by HoverflySpotterM.D
lisawilliams30.bsky.social
Don't very often see Calliphora vomitoria with their fetching ginger beards, but today I was pleased to find 2 of these blow flies, 13/11/25, Tamworth @dipteristsforum.bsky.social #Calliphoridae #Diptera
November 13, 2025 at 3:09 PM
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
Comet 3I/Atlas orbits the Sun—perfect time to dive into Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama. What if alien visitors came instead? 🚀✨ What if it wasn’t a comet but a starship? 🚀
#SpaceExploration #SciFiBooks #Comet #BookTok #BookLovers #SpaceVibes #SciFiReads #CometWatch #Astronomy #Cosmos #Space #SciFi
Rendezvous with Rama Arthur C.Clarke SF Masterworks published by Gollancz 2006.
November 13, 2025 at 9:42 AM
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
✨ Vintage Hoverfly Art ✨
Etching from Emile Blanchard’s book “Metamorphoses, mœurs et instincts des insectes” — a stunning glimpse into the world of insects. Illustrator L. Royner #Hoverflies #Flies #Insects #Syrphidae #Art #HistoricalArt #NatureIllustration #Diptera #Artappreciation
Hoverflies Art: Metamorphosis of the Rat-tailed fly
Examination of Hoverfly Art from a French book by Emile Blanchard titled ‘Metamorphoses, mœurs et instincts des insects' translated to English 1882.
hoverflyspotter.blogspot.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Reposted by HoverflySpotterM.D
cathhodsman.bsky.social
Did u know?This is one of the most important organisms on earth - moss. It's amazing what it does to maintain healthy ecosystems. It minimises soil erosion; captures carbon; harbours tiny souls in its unique habitat & filters & purifies water & air in its dense structure - make room for moss. 🌱🌿🇬🇧🌱🌍🦠
November 10, 2025 at 5:54 AM
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
Explored the grounds of #WortleyHall S.Yorkshire yesterday with the BNATs and spotted 20 species of #Fungi – bringing our monthly total to 53 species from two visits!. Wortley Hall is truly a magical spot for fungi lovers. 🌳✨ #Mycology #NatureWalk #Nature #BNATs #Wildlife #Autumnvibes #Fungifriends
Withes Hat, Poor Man's Liquorice and Yellow Fieldcap
November 9, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Reposted by HoverflySpotterM.D
jtkindt.bsky.social
Happy #flyday ! A couple of gorgeous hoverflies from last weekend, gorgeous weather after a week of gloom in Atlanta. Spilomyia longicornis, (eastern hornet fly, which puts on an intimidating hornet imitation) and Helophilis fasciatus, narrow-headed marsh fly.
#flyfriday #insects #macrophotography
Fly that looks like a yellowjacket on small white aster flower. Fly has yellow stripes on abdomen, a yellow chevron on thorax, and yellow stripes on its big eyes. Hoverfly on a brown leaf. Fly has yellow and bronze patterns on abdomen, four longitudinal bronze lines on a black thorax, and large dark eyes.
November 7, 2025 at 8:43 PM
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
Lunuled wings gleam,
Banded dancers trace green paths—
Ivy hums with life.
#Haiku #haikupoem #haikupoetry #Hoverflies #flies #Insects #pollinator #nature #syrphidae #knowledge #biology #wildlife #diptera
Left picture Lunuled Aphideater (Eupeodes luniger), Right picture Common Banded (Syrphus ribesii) all found on the Ivy bush centre.
November 7, 2025 at 5:33 PM
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
My Species of the Week: Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax) Fascinating #Hoverflies that mimic male drone honeybees.🐝This article explores its larval biology and gives helpful Identification tips. #flies #Insects #pollinator #nature #syrphidae #biology #wildlife #diptera. Hope you will visit. 📚
Hoverfly Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax) : A review of its resemblance to a male drone honeybee, Identification tips, its larval biology and where to see it.
hoverflyspotter.blogspot.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Reposted by HoverflySpotterM.D
chrismothman.bsky.social
Gravestone aggregation of Firebugs in Wivenhoe New Cemetery today, a welcome splash of colour in the absence of the customary waxcaps...
November 5, 2025 at 8:49 PM
hoverflyspotter.bsky.social
After 2 yrs, a hedgehog’s back in my garden! 🦔🔥 Before lighting bonfires, MOVE & CHECK for hidden hogs! #Wildlife #Autumn. Haven’t seen it in a week so it might have gone into hibernation?
-Check a fire save a ‘hog. 🦔🔥 Nobody likes a crispy Hedgehog! -
#Bonfire #Fireworks #NatureLove #Hedgehogs.
November 5, 2025 at 10:17 AM