This is probably the commonest hoverfly in Guernsey and across Europe. It’s one to be welcomed into gardens as the larvae feed on aphids. Balteatus means belted and it is easlily identified by the two double black belts on its orange abdomen, the lower ones looking like a moustache! These hoverflies can hibernate over the winter and on warm days will come out to feed on nectar and pollen, where there are plants in flower. It is one of very few flies that can crush pollen grains. They also migrate so numbers increase over the summer with visitors from the continent. This is quite an amazing feat considering they measure between 9 -12mm.
The photograph, 24.07.17, shows a male. As with all hoverfly species, the eyes of the male meet at the top of the head. The female has a gap between the eyes, (I maintain this is because she has a larger brain!)
Natural history of the Bailiwick of Guernsey 