Eristalis tenax is claimed to be a honeybee mimic. Indeed, when I started working on Eristalis tenax I occasionally (more than once) brought back bees from the field, instead of hoverflies. Apparently, even beekeepers struggle to tell the difference, as evidenced by the post below from the Kangaroo Island Beehive, with the heading "Busy bee" but the photo shows an Eristalis male hoverfly. Hoverflies are good pollinators, so the flower probably doesn't mind, but I doubt the Beehive people will get any honey out of this little guy.
By Karin
Eristalis tenax is claimed to be a honeybee mimic. Indeed, when I started working on Eristalis tenax I occasionally (more than once) brought back bees from the field, instead of hoverflies. Apparently, even beekeepers struggle to tell the difference, as evidenced by the post below from the Kangaroo Island Beehive, with the heading "Busy bee" but the photo shows an Eristalis male hoverfly. Hoverflies are good pollinators, so the flower probably doesn't mind, but I doubt the Beehive people will get any honey out of this little guy.
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Hoverfly Vision
The hoverfly vision group can be found at 2 locations: At Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, and at Uppsala University in Sweden. Archives
January 2022
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