Volucella pellucens - Pellucid Fly commonly found in woodlands up and down the country between May and October. Whilst the adults make great pollinators they do lay their eggs in the nests of social bees and wasps and the young will feed off bee and wasp larvae. There is another hoverfly in the UK that is very similar looking called Leucozona lucorum, with a cream band around its middle the only way of telling the difference is by the veins in the wings. The First 2 wing veins in the volucella fly (pictured below) join together and the veins on the Leucozona wings run straight out to the edge. The word pellucid means translucently clear and if you catch one of these in the right light you can see straight through its middle!
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