Hornet mimic hoverfly
The hornet mimic hoverfly is a big fly dressed up as a hornet. It has a reddish body, yellow and black stripes and amber coloured wings, and it even buzzes like a hornet. But it is just a gentle fly that drinks nectar.
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Fun facts
Looking like a hornet helps it stay safe, because birds do not want to mess with something that might sting.
The mother lays her eggs inside wasp and hornet nests, and the babies grow up there.
It is a traveller that can fly long distances, coming north from around the Mediterranean.
In Britain it was very rare before 1940, but now you can see it in many parks and gardens in the south of England.
It can shake pollen out of flowers by buzzing, a trick called buzz pollination.
Most asked questions about Hornet mimic hoverfly
?Can the hornet mimic hoverfly sting?
No. It is a fly and has no sting at all, even though it looks like a hornet.
?How can you tell a hornet mimic hoverfly from a hornet?
It has big fly eyes, short feelers and only one pair of wings. Hornets have two pairs of wings and long feelers.
?What does the hornet mimic hoverfly eat?
Grown-ups drink flower nectar. The babies live in wasp nests.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Volucella zonaria
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Syrphidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Syrphidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Volucella zonaria (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Volucella-zonaria-2019. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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