Hornet Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) (Title Photo)

Dear Readers, this week I have decided to see if we know how to tell the difference between a bee, a wasp, a moth and a fly. Not as easy as you might think, with all this mimicry going on! And I wonder how many hornet hoverflies have been walloped with a rolled-up newspaper, having been mistaken for their cousins (not that you should be walloping actual hornets, obviously).

I personally think this is megatricky (a word I just made up), so here are a few hints:

• There are 3 photos in each category (wasp, bee, fly, moth)
• The antennae, the eyes, the number of wings are all useful for categorisation.

As usual, answers in the comments by 5 p.m. on Thursday 4th March (UK time) if you want to be marked. I will ‘hide’ answers when I see them, but if you don’t want to be influenced, you might want to write your answers down first.

‘Just’ look at the photos below, and decide if the animal shown is a wasp, a bee, a moth or a fly. I will give an extra point if you can identify the species (some of these are very unusual).

So, if you think the creature in Photo One is a fly, your answer is 1) Fly.

Onwards!

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