Hornet Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) (Title Photo)
Dear Readers, unusually we have a clear and run away winner this week, with Fran and Bobby Freelove not only getting all the insects in the right groups, but naming pretty much all of the species – they end up with 22.5 out of 24 (I was giving one mark for the correct species and one for the correct family). And in the following pack, we have Leo with 12 out of 12 for family ID, Claire with 11 and Mike with 10. It was a very tricky quiz so well done to everyone who took part!
Handy hints: Flies always have those big compound eyes which take up most of their faces (clearly seen in the title photo, and in the marmalade hoverfly). They also always have teeny tiny antennae. Flies also only have two wings, although this isn’t so easy to see in all of the photos.
Moths have thick, extravagant antennae, and no waist at all.
Bees often have antennae with a ‘kink’ or elbow in them, and have small oval-shaped eyes. They can be hairy, but then so can everyone else (have a look at the beefly). They have four wings, which, along with their eyes, is the easiest way of distinguishing them from flies.
Wasps tend to be slender, with a marked ‘waist’, but I think they are probably the hardest group to definitely identify. This is not helped by there being many families of ‘wasps’ – the ruby-tailed wasp in the first photo is in a different family from the other two examples. In this quiz, it was probably easiest to assume that if you didn’t know what it was, it was a wasp.
1) Ruby-tailed Wasp (Chrysis Ignita) – WASP
2) Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae) – BEE
3) Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) – FLY
4) Dark-Edged Beefly (Bombylius major) – FLY
5) Hairy-Footed Flower Bee (Anthophora plumipes) – BEE
6) Lunar Hornet Moth (Sesia bembeciformis) – MOTH
7) Heath Potter Wasp (Eumenes coarctatus) – WASP
8) Wool Carder Bee (Anthidium manicatum) – BEE
9) Six-Belted Clearwing (Bembecia ichneumoniformis) – MOTH
10) Tachina fera (Hoverfly) – FLY
11) Big-Headed Digger Wasp (Ectemnius cephalotes) – WASP
12) Narrow-Bordered Bee Hawkmoth (Hemaris tityus) MOTH
Photo Credits
Title Photo by Siga, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo One by gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Two by Hectonichus, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Three by André Karwath aka Aka, CC BY-SA 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Four by jp hamon, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Five by gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Six by By Ian Kimber – Photo by Ian Kimber of ukmoths.org.uk who kindly granted permission by e-mail to use under a GFDL and/or CC-BY-SA license., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1313245
Photo Seven by Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Eight By Bruce Marlin – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=662209
Photo Nine by Lamiot, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Ten By Algirdas – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1803749
Photo Eleven by Slimguy, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Twelve by M kutera, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
So who won? (Or did I forget to send in my entry…? 🤔) Whatever, a great quiz!
I will remember to check the antennae next time…not so easy to do in real life, though… Anyway, two very easily identifiable specimens : Bombus terrestris, tried to invade my kitchen yesterday, The cat called me(!) and together we guided them back to the garden. I would rather not have a nest in my flowerpots, even though I appreciate the importance of pollinators.Last year, leafcutter bees have buried eggs in a pot of mint , no news of them yet…