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Good evening,

This Brachyopa was seen in a garden in southern Zealand (Denmark), 24th of May this year. A Danish Hoverfly expert, Bent Haagen, believes it might be Brachyopa scutellaris on basis of, for example, the brownish shoulder. However, he advised me to seek a second opinion as this particular species is very rare in Denmark with only three confirmed recordings. The garden holds a variety of Betula, Quercus, Taxus, Fagus - just to name a few.

I have attached the best photos I have of the third antenna, but if something specific is needed, let me know and I'll give it a try.

Best regards,
Simon Haarder

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Close up.

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Hello Haarder,

Good evening to you too! Yes, this is Brachyopa scutellarus. It's the only species in your area with the yellow humeri.
Funny that this species is so rare in Denmark. Its widely distributed in Europe. Bartsch et.al. 2009 indeed give only three localities for Denmark.
In the Netherlands and Belgium it's also widely distributed: Netherlands: http://waarneming.nl/soort/maps/7782?from=1912-12-13&to=2013-12-13 and
Belgium: http://waarnemingen.be/soort/maps/7782?from=1912-12-13&to=2013-12-13
It may be overlooked in Denmark. If you search for deciduous trees with wounds in May you will probably find more specimens coming season.

Greetings,

Ectemnius

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Hi Ectemnius,

Thank you very much for the ID confirmation! I've never seen a Brachyopa before, so quite a nice one to begin with!

At Fauna Europaea's site, I can see that B. scutellaris hasn't been found in Finland, Sweden and Norway, so perhaps Denmark is the frontier with regards to Scandinavia?

http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=65195

Thanks again,
Simon