DESCRIPTION: Another variable species with the typical form having orange yellow spots on tergites 2 to 5 with those on 3 and 4 having a strongly oblique hind edge and a parallel front edge. The scutellum is yellow and the legs yellow and black banded. Remember though there are several forms with Spring flying specimens the darkest. BEHAVIOUR: An early and late species that prefers wooded areas. Males hover over tracks and around projecting, sunlit branches of trees.
The larva feed on aphids on various shrubs and the stems and flowers of several umbels. DISTRIBUTION: Frequent in south and midlands becoming scarcer up to central Highlands. HABITAT: Woodland edges and paths or anywhere where trees abound. PERIOD: February to December. |
