Bee or hoverfly?

Dawn01 · #1 (**permalink**) 13-11-2011, 03:32 PM

Found this today at the RSPB Rainham, on some very late flowering bramble! At first I thought it was a hoverfly, but on closer inspection I'm not sure, it looks more like a bee.

Dogghound · #2 (**permalink**) 13-11-2011, 03:33 PM

Looks like a honeybee to me.

Dawn01 · #3 (**permalink**) 13-11-2011, 03:43 PM

Thank you, I've just looked at some honey bee pictures, and yes of course you are right. I suppose I wasn't expecting to see honey bees at this time of year, hardly even see them at all in the summer these days, and didn't realise they had such an obvious bright orange band on the abdomen.

Geoff F · #4 (**permalink**) 13-11-2011, 07:11 PM

Honeybees can be quite variable in colouration, Dawn.

The first clue is the jointed waisted abdomen connection, but it isn't that clear in these photos.

The second clue is in the wing veins. See the last very long wing cell near the wing edge. That is typical of a honeybee.