The warm spring sunshine at lunchtime today brought out not just one but three different species of hoverfly, the first ones seen in the Garden this year. The first one seen was a very dark-coloured example of the Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus on Sarcococca hookeriana near the East Gate, then there was a specimen of Melanostoma scalare visiting flowers of Petasites paradoxa by the Pond, and finally at least a couple of drone flies Eristalis tenax, honey-bee mimics, on more Sarcococca hookeriana, this time in the Copse. Sarcococca flowers are packed full of nectar so they are a good food source for pollinating insects at this time of year when there is still not a great deal of variety of flowers.

Melanostoma scalare on Petasites paradoxa, 3 March 2014