Xylota segnis
True Flies (Diptera) > Hoverfly (Syrphidae) > Xylota segnis
This is an orange and black hoverfly which slightly resembles an Ichneumon wasp. Adults are characteristically seen running about, or sunbathing, on leaves in hedgerows and woodland.
They have a preference for feeding on honey-dew secreted by aphids and can be seen sucking it off the leaf surface; they are rarely found at flowers. Wet, very rotten dead wood is the usual breeding site. This species is widespread and usually common in, or near, woods.
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Hoverfly (Xylota segnis). Copyright Peter Drury 2010
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