Taxonomy
Kingdom:	Phylum:	Class:	Order:	Family:	Genus:	Species:
Animalia	Arthropoda	Insecta	Diptera	Syrphidae	Eristalis	E. arbustorum

Another frequent visitor to the garden is the slightly smaller species Eristalis arbustorum. The males can be identified by their orange spot, which shows a small triangle. The females may have a much smaller spot, or even fly about without any markings. The best way to identify her is by looking at the face: it shows bright, white hairs all over. Also those behind the eyes are white! In the pictures you will see a female with white bands around the body. It is not something characteristic of Eristalis arbustorum. It is visible on many other hover flies and even other gnats and flies.



What you see is the 'skin' of the animal between the plates, which make up the segments. Especially when full of eggs many female flies show their skin. In Eristalus arbustorum it happens frequently, but this fact can never be used to identify the species.