Rhingia campestris

This is the commonest hoverfly in our garden at the moment - Rhingia campestris. Here it's on sweet rocket Hesperis matrionalis. When the insect is at rest its proboscis sticks out in front and looks quite menacing, but when it's actually feeding ..

..... the proboscis hinges downwards and the stretched soft tissue between it and the 'snout' that faces forward acts like a pump for sucking up nectar.

This individual has just withdrawn its proboscis from the flower, giving a better impression of how long it is. It's often assumed that this hoverfly is exclusively a nectar feeder but a study published back in 1989 by John Haslett at the Department of Zoology at Oxford University found substantial amounts of pollen in the guts of females, which need the protein that it contains for the production of their eggs. Male R. campestris were mainly nectar feeders, using the sugars as their energy source.

The books say that R. campestris breeds in dung, something of a contrast to the smell of sweet rocket that it's feeding on here - this is one of the most fragrant plants in the garden, with a strong carnation scent.

Hoverfly Eat with Forked Tongue ....

When I looked closely at this photo of the hoverfly Rhingia campestris feeding on a primrose I noticed that ....

..... when it withdrew its tongue the tip of the proboscis sometimes split into two, and then closed up again. I've noticed this before in nectar-feeding insects like bee-flies and suspect that it may be the insect's way of clearing blockages that occur in the capillary tube formed by the proboscis.

Rhingia campestris

This little hoverfly Rhingia campestris always appears in my garden at about the time that the bluebells come into bloom. That long snout makes it instantly identifiable.

Apparently in breeds on cow dung. No cows in our garden but there is a farm nearby that must provide their larvae with plenty of glorious dung to feed on.

The adults choose more fragrant meals. I always assumed that they were nectar feeders but this one definitely had its proboscis embedded in the pollen on the tip of a bluebell stamen - but maybe nectar runs down the stamens in the bell-shaped flowers?

It certainly spent plenty of time cleaning the pollen from that long proboscis.