Chrysotoxum bicinctum

The distinctive Hoverfly Chrysotoxum bicinctum, named for its two bright yellow abdominal bands, rests on a Raspberry leaf in our back garden today.

Not far away (see today's 'Extra'), a bright turquoise Flea Beetle (Altica Sp) was resting on a blade of grass. This individual could quite possibly be Altica lythri, although for ethical and practical reasons I did not attempt either to identify its sex, or (if it were indeed a male), to dissect its genitalia, I cannot say for sure which exact species it is. I was however encouraged in my identification by the fact that where I saw it was just a couple of metres away from a small clump of its food plant, Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) that we allow to grow in our back garden each summer.