Bright batman hoverfly

Here, a female Myathropa florea basks on a leaf over the wildife garden pond, which is now almost dry. Although batman hoverfly is not its common name, the distinctive batman symbol on this fly thorax makes it very distinctive. This hoverfly has a very long breeding season and you can see it from April until November, where it is often seen feeding on Ivy flowers. Individuals may vary in their brightness and this is because those that develop at high temperatures are brighter (like the one above) than those growing at colder conditions. This is a very common, opportunistic hoverfly which breeds in rot holes in trees or other hollows with wet rotting vegetable matter, where their 'rat-tailed' maggot larvae develop.

More information
Stuart Ball & Roger Morris 2015 Britain's Hoverflies: A field guide. 2nd ed. Wild Guides.

The Batman hoverfly

Surely, this is not an accepted English name for this common and widespread hoverfly, but the reason that this species is easy to identify is its distinctive 'Batman' logo on its thorax. This large female fed on the fennel with two other individuals. I find it amongst the most handsome of the British species. The larvae is of the rat-tailed maggot type, like its relatives, Eristalis, the droneflies and Helophilus (the 'Footballer hoverfly') and it typically breeds in rot holes in trees where leaves decompose.