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Melanostoma fasciatum
Spotted foraging for nectar on lime tree flowers. A New Zealand Native species hoverflies that superficially resembles bees. Hoverflies are efficient pollinators of native flowering plants. They are seen often during the middle of the day in hot, calm sunny weather.
New Zealand has about 40 native species of hoverfly. The most common are the samll hoverfly (Melanostoma fasciatum) and the large hoverfly (Melangya novaezelandiae) The large is about 10mm long and shiny black with creamy white markings and the small is similar but 1/2 the size and its markings are bolder and brighter rich yellow or orange.
Spotted on Nov 7, 2012
Submitted on Nov 7, 2012
2 Comments
Thanks for the ID Juan you certainly know your flies. This particular one is a New Zealand native
This is a Syrphid fly