Superb

I sometimes find myself wondering what goes through the minds of the entomologists who devise binomial names. This hoverfly is - or at least, was - called Xanthogramma pedissequum (it has recently been renamed, though most sources still seem to use this older name). 'Xanthogramma' comes from the Greek roots 'xanthos', meaning yellow, and 'gramma', which is a letter, or something which is written or drawn, so it works pretty well for an insect with startlingly yellow markings. 'Pedissequum', on the other hand, is Latin (I've noticed that binomials frequently have one Greek and one Latin root), and seems to mean something like 'foot follower', or maybe attendant. What that's all about, I can't really fathom, but the nomenclature bods must like it, because the new name is Philhelius pedissequus, which keeps the idea of a foot follower, but appears to make him a sun lover.

Go figure.

Whatever we choose to call our hoverfly, you'd really think that she was distinctive enough for the problems to end there - but no such luck: there's a new girl on the block, called Xanthogramma [Philhelius] stackelbergi, who was added to the UK list about a decade ago, and looks similar enough to cause confusion. However, I've read all the markings (yellow and black, plus the wing clouds) of this one quite carefully, and I'm confident that she's X. pedissequum sensu stricto.

This species is described by Wikipedia as uncommon, which it may be across the entirety of its range, but in the UK it's common south of a line drawn roughly between Swansea and The Wash. It flies from May to September, peaking around now, and prefers grassy habitats and open woodland rides. The adults feed on flower nectar, but their larvae appear to eat root aphids, as they've been found in the nests of various ant species that are known to be aphid farmers. For this reason Steven Falk has named X. pedissequum the Superb Ant-hill Hoverfly.