www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

This is one of at least six honey bees gathering pollen from crocuses in the local wildlife park this afternoon. No butterflies today though.
Taken with Sony A700 with 70-210 F4 'Beercan' and Canon 500D close up lens.

Very nice bee pic...Nice to see the weather improving and letting the bees/butterflies and other insects out. Reminds me, I gotta check the hive of honeybees in orchard nearby to see if there is life in it. Been there for as long as I can remember.

First bumblebee of the year - a queen Bombus terrestris buzzing loudly around a patch of gorse bushes, nectaring as she went.

Hi all.
I've seen several of these insects about recently, but can anyone tell me what they are? Looks like a honey bee with a few genes from some species of fly thrown in for a good mixture!
Regards
Deano.

It's a hoverfly (bees have antennae), many of which are bee or wasp mimics obtaining some degree of protection from predactors due to their appearance. I have no idea which species this is.

Looks like it is carrying a couple of passengers too.

Thank you eccles for identifying my hoverfly. I shall remember what you said about bees having antennae.
Regards
Deano

First bumble bee of the year for me, a queen Bombus terrestris flying past my house.

Are you sure Eccles, looks like a Bee to me. I haven't seen any hoverflies about yet, I think the antennae is pointing this way, your old eyes are going

Gruditch

Think it is a hoverfly. Is it Eristalis similis or one type of Eoseristalis hoverfly?

No idea, I'll take your word for it, not good at bee's, Not long now till the Bee-flies turn up, to add to the confusion.

Gruditch

It is easy to tell if it is a hover fly or not just by looking at the eyes. Even with the bee mimics the hover fly eyes are really big.

Now come on everybody - bee or hoverfly - I'm really confused now you know!
Regards
Deano

Looks like a hoverfly to me

One distinguishing feature is that a hoverfly has one pair of wings, whereas a bee or wasp has 2 pairs.

Also - hoverflies do have antennae - they're just reduced.

Here's a nice source: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/art ... flies.html

Cheers,

- Pete

Sorry my fault Deano, I was just surprised to see a hover-fly out and about, so early in the year.

Gruditch

Dave is right. It's a hoverfly in the genus Eristalis, well known mimics of honeybees. There are several similar species.

Misha

Thank you all. I've certainly learned a lot from posting that photo!
Kind regards
Deano.

Ah, but does anyone know what the parasites are?

I got a snap of a hover yesterday too. The sun was shining then which seems impossible with the horrible wet windy weather we have now.

I think both hoverflies are Eristalini, with a good candidate being Eristalis tenax...but this is my first try at identifying hoverflies, other than the very easy (and extremely colourful) Volucella species.