Thursday 26 July 2012

Eye-catching Insects (13): Pellucid Fly

At first I thought I noticed a bee on our fence, but then I realised that the insect only had one pair of wings showing, so I began to suspect a Hoverfly. It seems to be a Pellucid Fly, Volucella pellucens, which you can see on this site, if you scroll down. You can read more about it here.

I associated the word 'pellucid' with (sea) water, and in fact it can mean 'limpid' (as in a favourite translation of Aristophanes' comedy, 'The Frogs', in which the frog chorus inhabit the 'limpid lakes'), or 'clear' in the sense of admitting the maximum passage of light. I imagine this may refer to the wings of the fly, but perhaps it refers to the distinctive alabaster-like band!   

4 comments:

Crafty Green Poet said...

what a handsome insect!

kirstallcreatures said...

Oh my word! I saw a Pelucid Fly today for the first time, so I was delighted to find your post Caroline. What a coincidence, Linda

Unknown said...

Me too! Saw one last week near Whitby. Had to post on Flickr for someone to tell me what it was......never seen before. Wonder if they're more widespread this year?

Unknown said...

Me too! Saw one for first time last weekend near Whitby. Wonder if they're more widespread this year? They sure are magnificent!