Hornet Mimic Hover Fly

Fascinating facts about the Hornet Mimic Hover Fly

• The hornet mimic hoverfly copies the European hornet in size, colour pattern and buzzing flight, which helps it avoid predators. It can grow to about 25 mm long with a wingspan near 40 mm, and its thorax is a reddish-brown shining surface marked with dark brown patches, while the abdomen shows reddish-yellow tones with two wide black bands.
• Female hornet mimic hoverflies lay their eggs inside the nests of wasps and hornets, providing the next generation with a safe haven. Once hatched, the larvae live as commensals among the brood of bees, hornets and social wasps of the genus Vespula, feeding on nest debris and secretions. After completing development, the pupae overwinter in the soil, remaining dormant until the following spring when they emerge as adults.
• Hornet mimic hoverflies are capable of buzz pollination. They commonly visit a wide range of flowering plants, especially Valeriana, oregano, Mentha longifolia, Scabiosa, Cornus, Ligustrum, Cirsium, Carduus, Buddleia and other shrubs, gathering nectar.
• In Great Britain it was known from only two specimens before 1940, so it was regarded as rare, but the hoverfly has since spread across much of South and South East England, especially in parks and gardens where adults regularly visit flowers. The species occurs in most of Europe and also in Tunisia, Iran, Russia to the Far East and Mongolia, giving it a broad continental range.
• Since its expansion, the hornet mimic hoverfly is now common in many South and South East English locales, yet records from the rest of England remain few and scattered. Its preferred environment is meadowland adjoining forest edges, where it can easily locate flowering plants.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Hornet Mimic Hover Fly

In the warm, languid air of summer, the Hornet Mimic Hover Fly dances with an air of bold deception, its striped suit of black and yellow a masterful impersonation of the formidable hornet, allowing it to move with impunity through the garden's vibrant tapestry. As it hovers, its iridescent wings beating at a hypnotic pace, it embodies the very essence of cunning and adaptability, a testament to the unyielding power of evolutionary ingenuity. With each delicate touch of its feet upon a sun-kissed bloom, it sips nectar, its presence a fleeting whisper of wonder in the secret lives of flowers.

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