Big-Nosed Hoverfly

A male Rhingia sp hoverfly, probably Rhingia campestris (Diptera: Syrphidae).  In Rhingia rostrata the side of the abdomen is not as dark.

The flower is germander speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys).  The fly is sucking up nectar through its proboscis which it has extended and bent down out of the protective sheath that is the big 'nose'.

I have been getting fleeting glimpses of these hoverflies in the same place over the past few weeks but this was the first time I managed to get a photo that wasn't blurred.

Photo taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2011-05-16.