Ivy flowers an important food source for many insects in Autumn when very few other plants are in flower. One particularly impressive hoverfly that takes advantage of this late food source is the hornet-mimic Volucella zonaria. This is one of Britain's largest hoverflies and, after only becoming established in the UK in the 1940s, it has expanded its range steadily northwards other the last few decades. Nottinghamshire is at the northern edge of its current distribution and here it is mostly restricted to suburban areas.
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