Another Hoverfly

Another hoverfly from last summer: a male Volucella inanis (Diptera: Syrphidae).

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-08-08.

Hoverflies

From last summer: a female Volucella zonaria (Diptera: Syrphidae).

This is another one that I came across the next day:

First photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-08-11.

Second photo taken in Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2012-08-12.

Hoverfly

From last autumn: a black male hoverfly which I initially thought was a Cheilosia sp but on closer inspection looks more like a Chalcosyrphus nemorum (Diptera: Syrphidae).  The markings on the abdomen and the thick hind femurs are characteristic.

Photos taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-09-18.

Another Butterfly

From last summer: what I think is a small heath butterfly, Coenonympha pamphilus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).

Photo taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2012-07-08.

Butterfly

From last spring: a male orange-tip butterfly, Anthocharis cardamines (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) on lady's smock (Cardamine pratensis). 

The green and black pattern on the underside of the wings is apparently rather effective camouflage when the butterfly is at rest, feeding on a flower head.  The orange wing-tip is hidden away between the folded wings, only to be revealed in flight, when the butterfly is less easy to catch.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-04-30.