Buzzing again

Compared to bees, hoverflies tend to get overlooked, yet they’re important pollinators, too. Of Britain’s 280odd species, one found in almost every garden is the drone fly, named for its resemblance to a big-eyed male honeybee, or drone. In this species, adult females hibernate over winter, meaning they’re among the first hoverflies on the wing in spring. One reason for their abundance is that their aquatic larvae can cope with oxygen-deprivation, flourishing anywhere from dirty ditches to buckets of stagnant water.

FIND OUT MORE All about British invertebrates: buglife.org.uk