Helophilus pendulus
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Helophilus pendulus is a European hoverfly. Its scientific name means "Dangling marsh-lover" (from Greek helo-, "marsh", -phil, "love", Latin pend-, "hang"). It is a very common species in Britain, where it is the commonest Helophilus species. It is found throughout Europe from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, westward to the Faroe Islands and Iceland, and through eastward through Russia from the Kola Peninsula south to Crimea and across Siberia to the Pacific Ocean.
It also has the common name sun fly, although this is probably based on a mis-reading of helo- as helio-. Like other members of the genus Helophilus it has black and yellow longitudinal stripes on the upper surface of its thorax. The abdomen is patterned with yellow, black and grey, and for this reason it is sometimes called the footballer. It has a black central face-stripe. It has a wing-length of 8.5–11.25 mm (0.33–0.44 in).
The tergites two and three are yellow patterned with black. The black pattern consists of a band across the apex of the tergite (on its discal part only, not extending to the sides), and stripe down the centre of the tergite, and a black band across the full width... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 6 | Amsterdam | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 7 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 8 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 9 | Hamburg | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Warsaw | 🇵🇱 Poland |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sun Fly sighting in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 189th most-seen of the 300 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May–July and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sun Fly in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August and October–April, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sun Fly sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Sun Fly sightings, Cairngorms National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Wadden Sea National Park (Germany, about 10%) and Snowdonia National Park (United Kingdom, about 10%).
Same family: Syrphidae
The closest relatives of the Sun Fly that you can see in Cairngorms National Park (family Syrphidae, Hover Flies) are Tapered Drone Fly (about 20%), Yellow-Barred Peat Hover Fly (about 20%) and Pellucid Hover Fly (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sun Fly is recorded against all the insects logged in Cairngorms National Park (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
