Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans)
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans) by Peter Pearson as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans)
Image: © Peter Pearson Taken: 10 Jun 2012
This hoverfly has no common English name. It imitates bumblebees and having used its disguise to gain access, lays its eggs in the nest of the host bees. The hoverfly grubs feed on the detritus in the nest also the young bee grubs. The colouration of the hoverfly varies according to the bee species chosen as the host.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.907118
Longitude
0.925581