One of 5,000

The book says that Hover - Flies are a family of about 5,000 species. Some way to go to complete my photographic collection.

This one I believe is Xanthogramma pedissequum. It has a distinguishing pattern and the dark wing patches are a help to identification.

One of their virtues of these little beasts is that they often stay still on the flower head. A great help to an aged photographer.