Hoverflies are one of the most diverse and intriguing families of true-flies (diptera), with around 280 species known from the UK. In Shropshire around 200 species have been recorded. However, a number of scarce species have not been recorded for many years. With increased recording effort it is likely that more species could be recorded, or rediscovered in the county.  Recording effort to date has shown that many Shropshire sites contain important assemblages of hoverflies, with numbers of rare or scarce species.

Hoverflies occur in a wide range of habitats, but can be particularly abundant in woodlands, gardens and wetlands. The Shropshire Invertebrates Group is recording hoverflies and would welcome records. Please send records to nigelj@insectpix.net . Please provide the following details: your name, name of person who identified the hoverflies, grid reference or postcode, location name, date and species recorded.

The national Hoverfly Recording Scheme website contains a wealth of photographs, maps and information about all the UK species.

There is an excellent identification manual for hoverflies, containing keys, descriptions of species and colour plates:

British Hoverflies - An Illustrated Identification Guide; A, Stubbs & SJ Falk, 2002.