#3
Chris
Reading Stubbs, I would incline towards
E interruptus, as he says the orange spots on T2 in females are always well separated from the hind margin, unlike
E arbustorum. My experience in Essex is that the arbustorums flying now will be almost gilded in appearance in flight, the way
Epistrophe eligans looks, and it is only later, in the autumn that they are dark with the narrow cream banding.
#4
Chris
More reading of Stubbs - can you check the tip of the mid tibia? - if entirely pale, it is presumably
E abusivus, but this species is apparently more common at the coast where there is marshland. In this photo the vital area is just enough obscured by the body on both sides so one cannot be certain - how frustrating
Posted by
ChrisR on 03-07-2006 21:36
#5
Ahh, thanks Susan (& Nigel) - but that was the only decent pic I got of it so no view of the tibia - sorry
Never mind - I know it's a bit of a long shot to identify something from a photo
