June 20th, 2006
it’s not what you might think
It’s been a little busy around here lately, so I’m waaaay behind on my insect IDs and note-writing, and, and…. As a result, you may see a flurry of short posts for the next while as I do a bit of catching up.
Today’s insect is a puzzler for me, so I’m posting a couple of photos and inviting any and all sleuths to offer an ID. I began looking through online galleries this morning, but my net connection is running at somewhere around 21000 bps, so I’ve given up in frustration. Perhaps I’ll give it a go later tonight if the connection improves. [Edit: I’ve done some more checking around online and found a close match for this insect on BugGuide.net. See note below.][LATEST EDIT: I’ve added a note below from David Gibbs of the UK who has added more info on this fly.]
Anyhow, what have we got here? Looks like a bee. Buzzes like a bee… but nope, it isn’t a bee. So, what is it?
Setting aside that furry body and the yellow and black coloration, what do you think? Check out the posture of this insect. What does it remind you of? When was the last time you watched a fly sitting around eyeing the potato salad at a picnic? Look familiar? And what about those big eyes joined together at the middle (see below – click for large image)
Getting into the subtleties, what about those very odd antennae? Curly and fuzzy and not at all like Bumble bee antennae. And what about that tiny spherical thing just below the wings (click on above image for a better view). Does that look like one of a set of halteres poking out beneath? By the way, I just discovered that halteres were dumbbells used by the ancient Greeks for weight-lifting and also for swinging to add thrust during the long jump!
All in all, the clues point to something quite other than a Bumble bee. If you want to take a look at a real bee, mosey on over to Niches and take a gander at the Bombus photos that Wayne put up this morning. Now, that’s a bee. This is not.
So, again, what is it? At first glance, I thought it might be a species of Robber Bee (Asilidae). I probably would have put my money on it being a species of Laphria, which are the bee-mimic Robber flies. I might even have gone with it being Laphria thoracica, but there are some problems with that match. The L. thoracica’s eyes look much smaller, it has very powerful, fuzzy legs, and its antennae are more like stubby prongs rather than the elegant, curling antennae of my mystery fly. It might well be some species of Laphria, but there’s something that just doesn’t seem to wash right about that ID. I’m a little suspicious that it might belong to the Syrphidae, perhaps to the TribeMileslini or Tribe Eristalini, both of which encompass some amazing bee and wasp mimics.
I leave this mystery unsolved for the moment. Everyone please feel free to post an opinion, guess, or other comment.
[EDIT: As mentioned in the above edit, I’d believed I’d found what looked like a fairly good match for this insect. It looked to be some species of the Genus Mallota, a Bee-like fly. Mallota are from the Tribe Eristalini, Subfamily Eristalinae of the Family Syrphidae. Here are some photos of Mallota from BugGuide.net. However, see the following edit for the latest info on this fly].[NEW EDIT: David Gibbs, an entomologist from the UK, has left a comment below stating that this fly is a hoverfly (Syrphidae), in the genus Volucella. Here is the taxonomy of this genus (from the Bugguide.net site) for anyone who might be interested.]
Tags: Asilidae, Robber Fly, Laphria, halteres, Syrphidae, Tribe Mileslini, Tribe Eristalini, Bee-mimic fly
June 20th, 2006 at 1:10 pm
Bev – ’twas the eyes that did it for me, but the antennae are definitely weirdish!
One of the non-bumblebees that Discover Life indicated as a result of putting in characters for my bumblebee (which, and I sigh for relief, does seem to have turned out to be a bumblebee) was in fact Asilidae, a bee mimic. I looked at the pics and discarded it as a possibility.
Do any mimic flies stuff pollen into their little cargo pants?
June 20th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Wayne – Yes.. those eyes are so un-bee-like, aren’t they? And the antennae are definitely more like something that might be found on a something like a Spilomyia species of fly. As far as collecting pollen, I don’t think any of the bee mimics collect it on their legs, so that’s probably one of the first points where the wheat could be separated from the chaff.
June 20th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
I had one of these in my garden last year and it was cathing flies….My book ID’s it as a robber fly…so that is what I call it till I get the right name for it.
June 20th, 2006 at 2:22 pm
*lifts head cautiously*
Is this a poetry-free zone?
June 20th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
Jimmy – If you saw the fly catching other insects, then in all likelihood, it was some species of Robber Fly (Asilidae), probably a species of Laphria. I’m not sure this one is. I think it could belong to another family of Diptera — perhaps one of those that grab bees and lay eggs which hatch and parasitize the bee (usually resulting in its death). They are often very bee-like as they perch on flowers where than can ambush bumble bees.
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Pablo – I’m not sure if this is a poetry-free zone. I think of it more as a free-speech zone. (o:
June 20th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
We don’t do no poetry here. Just ignore FC. :-)
June 20th, 2006 at 5:33 pm
My untrained eye sees
What appears to be a bee
A closer look reveals why
It’s really some kind of fly
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
June 20th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
Wayne – Oh ho!! I see that we do indeed! (-:
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RA – Excellent! (And don’t try to resist).
May 22nd, 2007 at 3:01 pm
a hoverfly (Syrphidae) genus Volucella.
May 23rd, 2007 at 5:58 am
David – Thanks! I’ve just added your note to a new “edit” up in the text of this post.