Fake hornet

 Hornet Mimic Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria)

I finally connected with Britain's biggest hoverfly – the Hornet Mimic Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) – on one of our flowering shrubs this week. Mike saw several in the garden last year, but I managed to miss every single one of them. It clocks in at a chunky 15.5 - 25 mm (up to an inch) long, which is pretty big for a hoverfly. It looks (and sounds) remarkably like the European Hornet, which helps it to avoid being eaten; most predators won't mess with prey that might sting. The hoverfly, however, has no sting. It spends its adulthood sipping nectar from a variety of flowers, while its larvae live inside wasp, hornet, and bumblebee nests, eating waste and debris. Hornet Mimic Hoverflies first arrived along the south coast of England in the late 1930s. By the 1940s, a population had become established, primarily around London. Since 1995, its range has expanded greatly as climate change warms the UK, and it is now regular across the southern and southeastern England, with scattered records as far north as Scotland. Adults fly from May until November (though primarily in July and August) so we have plenty of time to see others.