I realised last summer that I'm very bad at identifying bees which aren't
bumble or honey bees. I've taken a photo of something that was slugging
around on the allotment and I assumed it was a wasp, but having looked a bit
closer (now it's HUGE rather than on a diddly screen), it looks a bit more
hairy than I had thought, so have I mis-assigned it to the wasp family?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47493880@N00/5592174504/

--

On 5 Apr 2011 13:20:00 GMT, wrote:

I realised last summer that I'm very bad at identifying bees which aren't
bumble or honey bees. I've taken a photo of something that was slugging
around on the allotment and I assumed it was a wasp, but having looked a bit
closer (now it's HUGE rather than on a diddly screen), it looks a bit more
hairy than I had thought, so have I mis-assigned it to the wasp family?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47493880@N00/5592174504/

Bumble bee. Wasps are smooth and the ordinary ones have very distinct
stripes as well as the equally pronounced famous wasp waist.

--
Mike.

Mike Lyle wrote:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47493880@N00/5592174504/

Bumble bee. Wasps are smooth and the ordinary ones have very distinct
stripes as well as the equally pronounced famous wasp waist.

Non-bumbley bee, I think you'll find. But yes, the more I look at it the
more I'm inclined to agree.

Also, the fact that it was mostly asleep and almost underground would also
seem to imply a beelikeness.

On 5 Apr 2011 15:41:23 GMT, wrote:

Mike Lyle wrote:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47493880@N00/5592174504/

Bumble bee. Wasps are smooth and the ordinary ones have very distinct
stripes as well as the equally pronounced famous wasp waist.

Non-bumbley bee, I think you'll find. But yes, the more I look at it the
more I'm inclined to agree.

Also, the fact that it was mostly asleep and almost underground would also
seem to imply a beelikeness.

Well, non-hive bee, at any rate, and certainly not a wasp. I can't
claim knowledge of all the bee species, though it would be nice if I
knew more than just "honey" for one lot and "bumble" for the rest.

--
Mike.

On Apr 5, 2:20*pm, wrote:
I realised last summer that I'm very bad at identifying bees which aren't
bumble or honey bees. *I've taken a photo of something that was slugging
around on the allotment and I assumed it was a wasp, but having looked a bit
closer (now it's HUGE rather than on a diddly screen), it looks a bit more
hairy than I had thought, so have I mis-assigned it to the wasp family?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47493880@N00/5592174504/

--

It's hard to tell from that picture if it has 2pairs of wings (Bee and
wasp family) or one pair (Diptera - flies)
Several flies mimic bees, the many species have widely differing life
cycles and behaviour.
Very many species of bees, most solitary or making small colonies
unlike the very large colonies - up to many tens of thousands for
honeybees.

Rod

Mike Lyle wrote:
Non-bumbley bee, I think you'll find. But yes, the more I look at it the
more I'm inclined to agree.

Also, the fact that it was mostly asleep and almost underground would also
seem to imply a beelikeness.

Well, non-hive bee, at any rate, and certainly not a wasp. I can't
claim knowledge of all the bee species, though it would be nice if I
knew more than just "honey" for one lot and "bumble" for the rest.

Sounds like my range. And "wasp" or "not a bee" for everything else. :-D

Whilst browsing found a ranty parentsnet/daily mail article about how 4 out
of 10 children couldn't tell a bee from a wasp. Which was made all the more
amusing during this (and the parallel) conversation. Seems like 4 out of 10
isn't bad going, all in all.

On Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:20:00 +0200, wrote:

I realised last summer that I'm very bad at identifying bees which aren't
bumble or honey bees. I've taken a photo of something that was slugging
around on the allotment and I assumed it was a wasp, but having looked a
bit
closer (now it's HUGE rather than on a diddly screen), it looks a bit
more
hairy than I had thought, so have I mis-assigned it to the wasp family?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47493880@N00/5592174504/


A bit difficult to identify from the image (looking down is usually
better) but given the time of year it is likely to be Osmia rufa, the Red
Mason bee.

--
rbel

On 5 Apr 2011 13:20:00 GMT, wrote:

I realised last summer that I'm very bad at identifying bees which aren't
bumble or honey bees. I've taken a photo of something that was slugging
around on the allotment and I assumed it was a wasp, but having looked a bit
closer (now it's HUGE rather than on a diddly screen), it looks a bit more
hairy than I had thought, so have I mis-assigned it to the wasp family?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47493880@N00/5592174504/

When I was a novice allotmenteer, I was given some sage advice about
telling the difference. In essence it was "Aggravate the bugger by
flapping your hands around it. If it stings you once and drops dead it
was a bee. If it stings you twice, it still is a wasp". I was once in
a group clearing a woodland path when we came across a bees nest and
really disturbed it accidentally. We were all stung multiple times
and, in my case, I remember a rhyme my father used to tell about a boy
on a burning deck, something about cricket and something about wicket!
I have learnt now never to wear cargo shorts and otherwise "go
commando" when clearing woodland paths, however hot the weather may
be!

It's obviously not a fly from the look of its eyes and mouth parts. This is much the easiest way to tell a wasp from a fly-imitator. Have a look at the eyes/mouth of a bee-fly or hoverfly, and you'll soon see the obvious and large difference.

Globally 99% of bee species are neither bumblebees nor honeybees. Though of course most bees in Britain are hbs and bbs. Identifying the more obscure bees and wasps is well beyond the ability of most children, but I expect they are just talking about the common yellow-and-black wasps vs honeybees and bumblebees. The great majority of wasps look nothing like the black-and-yellow stinging things.

The actual classification of the hymenoptera is that ants are a well defined group, bees are a well-defined group (and nearly all bees are hairy, if you look closely enough, though not necessarily all over or very hairy), and the rest of the hymenoptera (which nearly all aren't hairy) are wasps. So that is a bit like how amniotes are divided into well-defined groups of birds and mammals, with reptiles being the rest.

On 5 Apr 2011 13:20:00 GMT, wrote:

I realised last summer that I'm very bad at identifying bees which aren't
bumble or honey bees. I've taken a photo of something that was slugging
around on the allotment and I assumed it was a wasp, but having looked a bit
closer (now it's HUGE rather than on a diddly screen), it looks a bit more
hairy than I had thought, so have I mis-assigned it to the wasp family?

Looks like a fly mimicking a bumblebee. There are many different fly
species that mimic bees or wasps.

Steve

Steve, it clearly isn't. Look at some pictures of beeflies and hoverflies, and concentrate on the eyes and mouthparts. Then look at some pictures of bees and wasps. The eyes and mouth-parts of flies vs bees/wasps are quite different, even for the imitator species. This one has typical eyes and mouthparts of a bee or wasp.