On 10.05.2017 a Fatsia japonica in my garden was covered in aphids and Syrphus spp. hoverfly larvae. The larvae pupated on 11.05.17 so to work out what species of hoverfly it was I popped one in a pot and waited. On 27.05.2017 a parasitoid wasp rather than a Syrphus emerged from the pupa. This has now been identified by Dr Gavin Broad and his colleague Seraina Klopfstein of the Natural History Museum as Syrphoctonus tarsatorius. Very little is known about hoverfly parasitoids so Sammy the Syrphoctonus has now gone off to live in London at the Natural History Museum.
Although this isn't the first time I have donated specimens to the NHM, Sammy now resides in a drawer jostling for space with Darwin's beetle collection. Which is nice.
On second thoughts, it's The Best Thing EVER.
Syrphoctonus tarsatorius.
Sony ILCE-6000
Canon MP-E 65mm F2.8 G SSM
f16 1/125 ISO 4000
