Subject: Common Compost Fly (Syritta pipiens).
Location: Parents’ Garden (Walsingham).
Date: July 2018.
The Story Behind the Shot: The amazing hovering capabilities of Flower Flies (the Family Syrphidae) have always impressed me and I really wanted to capture this one in the air. The fact that I was able to take this shot is a testament to how little these insects falter while hovering in mid-air.
The Story Behind the Species:
Common Compost Fly males are some of the most impressive flyers in the world of insects. They use their skills to patrol among flowers and pursue females which visit the flowers with incredible agility. Their singleminded pursuits seem to have sacrificed discrimination for the sake of directness, as these flies are known to pursue “any insect of almost any size that appears in their search area” (Marshall 2012 p. 307). After mating, the females lay their eggs in decomposing plant material, which can include compost, hence their common name.
Syritta pipiens is an introduced species in North America, brought over accidentally from Europe around 1895 (Skevington et. al. 2019).
References:
Marshall, Stephen A. 2012. Flies: The Natural History and Diversity of Diptera. Firefly Books.
Skevington, Jeffrey H., Locke, Michelle M., Young, Andrew D., Moran, Kevin, Crins, William J., and Marshall, Stephen A. 2019. Field Guide to the Flower Flies of Northeastern North America. Princeton University Press.
For other Posts in this series, see:
–My Top 20 Nature Photos of 2013-2020
–1. The Pale-Painted Sand Wasp (Bembix pallidipicta)
–2. Moose (Alces alces) Family
–3. Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)
–4. Common Five-Lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus)
–5. Robber Fly Hunting Queen Ant
–6. Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)
Norfolk Naturalist 