Volucella zonaria, a hornet-mimic.

Once pretty rare in the southern half of the UK (and absent in the north), these large and colourful hoverfliess have done really well in our recent warm summers and increased their numbers. I'm not sure if they can survive our winters yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time if not.
However, I filmed this guy on a thistle flower in southern Spain in May 2005. He/she was so unfazed that I later got it to crawl onto my hand for some close-up views and shots. I think they're pretty cute little things and would make it into my top ten fave insects!

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• volucella
• zonaria
• hoverfly
• hornet
• fly
• insect
• Spain
• Andalucia
• Sorbas
• wing
• tickle

[zeeox]

Agreed monjanse! Seeing that they're only flies after all, I still think they have a nice character to them, with big eyes and hearty one-track mind appetite for nectar!

[monjanse]

so cute!