| Volucella bombylans | |
|---|---|
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| Volucella bombylans var. bombylans, male | |
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| Volucella bombylans var. bombylans, female | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Syrphidae |
| Subfamily: | Eristalinae |
| Tribe: | Volucellini |
| Genus: | Volucella |
| Species: | V. bombylans |
| Binomial name | |
| Volucella bombylans | |
| Synonyms | |
Volucella bombylans is a large species of hoverfly belonging to the family Syrphidae. [1]
This species is present in most of Europe, in the East Palearctic realm, in the Near East and in the Nearctic realm. [2]
These hoverflies can be found in forest edges and clearings, woodland margins, hedgerows, wet meadows, spruce forest edge and urban wasteland or gardens, [3] [4] usually sunning on leaves.
Volucella bombylans is larger than most hoverflies, reaching a body length of 11 to 17 mm. and a wingspan length of 8–14 mm. [4] They look something like a bumblebee with a furry black, yellow and/or white body, but they are given away by their heads, plumed antennae, [3] large eyes and the particular wing venation, which make them quite easy to identify as a true fly, like a blowfly.
The mesonotum bears black or yellow hairs on the sides, while the scutellum is brownish or yellowish. The wings are milky white with a dark cross-bands in the anterior half and a diffuse dark spot at the wing tip. The abdomen is yellow at the base and black in the middle, with long, dense hairs at the end. The legs are rather short and black.
This species occurs in several forms, each of which mimics a species of bumblebee (Batesian mimicry). The two main varieties are Volucella bombylans var. bombylans, showing an orange-red tail, mimicking the Red-tailed Bumblebee ( Bombus lapidarius ) [5] and Volucella bombylans var. plumata [6] with a white tail, mimicking the White-tailed Bumble Bee ( Bombus lucorum ) and the Buff-tailed Bumblebee ( Bombus terrestris ).
Volucella bombylans var. plumata is also rather similar to other syrphids ( Arctophila bombiformis and Merodon equestris . [6]
V. bombylans has two generations and can be encountered from May until September, [4] with a peak in June. [3] These hoverfies are fast fliers. The adults feed on nectar and pollen (mainly on Valeriana officinalis , Geranium sylvaticum , Centaurea jacea , Cirsium palustre , Epilobium angustifolium , etc.), with preference for blue flowers. [4]
The females of these hoverflies lay their eggs in the nests of social wasps or bumblebees, where the larvae live as scavengers, feeding on debris and occasionally on host's larvae. [3]
Hover flies, also called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggots) eat a wide range of foods. In some species, the larvae are saprotrophs, eating decaying plant and animal matter in the soil or in ponds and streams. In other species, the larvae are insectivores and prey on aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects.
The Conopidae, usually known as the thick-headed flies, are a family of flies within the Brachycera suborder of Diptera, and the sole member of the superfamily Conopoidea. Flies of the family Conopidae are distributed worldwide in all the biogeographic realms except for the poles and many of the Pacific islands. About 800 species in 47 genera are described worldwide, about 70 of which are found in North America. The majority of conopids are black and yellow, or black and white, and often strikingly resemble wasps, bees, or flies of the family Syrphidae, themselves notable bee mimics. A conopid is most frequently found at flowers, feeding on nectar with its proboscis, which is often long.
Volucella pellucens, the pellucid fly, is a hoverfly.
Volucella inanis is a species of hoverfly belonging to the family Syrphidae.
Volucella is a genus of large, broad-bodied, dramatic hover-flies. They have distinctive plumose aristae and the face is extended downward. They are strongly migratory and males are often territorial. Adults feed on nectar of flowers and are often seen sunning on leaves. The larvae of most species live in nests of bumblebees and social wasps, where they are detritivores and larval predators.
Volucella zonaria, the hornet mimic hoverfly, is a species of hoverfly. These flies are capable of buzz pollination.
Bombus barbutellus, or Barbut's cuckoo-bee, is a species of cuckoo bumblebee, widespread, if not especially common, in most of Europe.
Bombus campestris is a very common cuckoo bumblebee found in most of Europe.
Bombus pascuorum, the common carder bee, is a species of bumblebee present in most of Europe in a wide variety of habitats such as meadows, pastures, waste ground, ditches and embankments, roads, and field margins, as well as gardens and parks in urban areas and forests and forest edges. It is similar in appearance to Bombus muscorum, and is replacing the species in Northern Britain.
Bombus lucorum, the white-tailed bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee, widespread and common throughout Europe. This name has been widely used for a range of nearly identical-looking or cryptic species of bumblebees. In 1983, Scholl and Obrecht even coined the term Bombus lucorum complex to explain the three taxa that cannot be easily differentiated from one another by their appearances. A recent review of all of these species worldwide has helped to clarify its distribution in Europe and northern Asia, almost to the Pacific. B. lucorum reaches the Barents Sea in the North. However, in southern Europe, although found in Greece it is an upland species with its distribution never quite reaching the Mediterranean.
Volucella inflata is a large species of European hoverfly.
Scaeva selenitica is a species of hoverfly.
Cheilosia variabilis, common name figwort cheilosia, is a species of hoverfly belonging to the family Syrphidae.
Microdon analis, is a species of hoverfly. It is found in the Palearctic. The distinctive almost slug-like larvae live in ants nests. The larvae are hemispherical in shape and heavily armoured. They are believed to prey on the eggs and larvae of a number of different ant species, notably Lasius niger and the Formica rufa group. These ants are usually found on heathland. However Schmid (2004) claims that Microdon analis and M. major which are cryptic species have been confused under the name analis. M.major is apparently associated with ants of the genus Formica, the other species, M.analis, with Lasius species.
Bombus flavifrons, the yellow-fronted bumble bee or yellowhead bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee. It is native to North America, where it is distributed across much of Canada, Alaska, and the western contiguous United States.
Bombus griseocollis is a species of bumblebee known commonly as the brown-belted bumblebee. It is native to much of the United States except for the Southwest, and to the southernmost regions of several of the provinces of Canada.
Mallophora bomboides, also known as the Florida bee killer, is a predaceous species of robber fly of the family Asilidae that feeds primarily on bumblebees. M. bomboides is a noteworthy instance of Batesian mimicry given its close resemblance to its prey, the bumblebee. These bees are typically found in the Eastern and Southern regions of the United States like South Carolina and Florida.
Mallota cimbiciformis is a Palearctic hoverfly.
Volucella evecta, the eastern swiftwing, is an uncommon species of hoverfly that has been considered a subspecies of Volucella bombylans, but has been shown to be a distinct species. This species is a bumblebee mimic. It resembles a number of species, including Bombus pensylvanicus, Bombus affinis, Bombus bimaculatus, and Habropoda laboriosa. The range of this species is from Eastern North America and Canada from Georgia to New Brunswick. The adults have been observed feeding on Geum, Viburnum, Rubus, and other flowering plants. Larvae of this species are not known, but larvae in this genus feed on the debris and larvae in bee and wasp nests.
Mesembrina mystacea is a fly belonging to the family Muscidae.