Small Hover Fly

Melanostoma fasciatum, a New Zealand native.

Earlier in the summer everywhere I looked in the garden I saw our native hover flies, (Melangyna novaezelandiae), feeding from the flowers or just resting.  They have become a rare sight now, and their place has been taken by this small hover fly.  At about 5 mm it is half the size of the other and much more tricky to capture.  I took this shot when it paused momentarily to clean its mouth after feeding from the tiny daisy.  It has more colour on its abdomen than the Melangyna, and it is a deep gold, rather than cream.

The daisy is a newly opened Erigeron karvinskianus.  It is white at this stage, but as it opens out and matures it passes through ever darkening shades of pink.

Early this evening we have had a very exciting thunderstorm.  We don't usually get much thunder, but this is the third time this year.  At the height of the storm the rain and hail were making so much noise that I could feel the thunder, but not hear it, even though it was overhead.