Geograph - photograph every grid square

Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) on globe thistle

An orange and black banded hoverfly with a distinctive pattern of faint stripes on the body, widespread and very common. Hoverflies are useful insects to encourage in a garden as most species, including this one, feed on aphids.
In most years numbers are greatly boosted by immigration from the continent.
There are about 250 different species of hoverfly in Britain. Although hoverflies look like bees or wasps, they are in fact true flies and do not bite or sting. Hoverflies are excellent examples of Batesian mimicry (named after H W Bates who first described it in 1862). They generally mimic bees and wasps – insects that sting and also taste unpleasant, so are avoided by predators.