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Just as I was getting to terms with a few of the common british syrphids (by which I mean that I had progressed marginally beyond the stage where every single one is "Syrphus ribesii" ) I foolishly spent three months abroad.

This is one of only a handful of hoverflies (which may not all be hoverflies, if my track record is anything to go by) that had the common decency to stay still for the camera over that period, and I'm not doing very well at identifying it.

Please help.

Place: Lusaka City, Lusaka Province, Zambia.

Habitat: on a large ornamental pond, amid a smallish ornamental garden.

Date: 16/09/2011

Size: in keeping with Xylocopa bees, so probably 16mm or thereabouts.

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Senaspis haemorrhoa (Gerstaecker).

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Thanks! Updated title, going to check whether gallery has few enough to warrant adding this!

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Now that this has been identified and the image posted in the gallery, should I delete this thread or will admin do that?

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No. Keep all the threads, please. They contain useful information. And anyone can see relevant info later when use search and found this thread (or others) with photo(s) along with the data. Some users put a link in the description of the photo (that goes to the gallery) to indicate the thread for more details.