Volucella inanis

Banded Waldschwebfliege ( Volucella inanis )

The Banded Waldschwebfliege or Yellow Bumblebee hoverfly ( Volucella inanis ) is a fly from the family of hoverflies (Syrphidae ).

Features

The Banded Waldschwebfliege reaches a body length of 14 to 16mm, and has an oval shaped body. Their wings are tinged with rusty red at the base and wear near the tip of a dark spot. The head is depressed below the probe, the yellow face is including too prominent. The wine-red compound eyes are hairy long, those of the females are naked. The antennae bristle is feathered. The mesonotum is metallic colored black, the sides are yellow. The scutellum is yellow-brown and bears on the edge of some long black hair. The first member of the abdomen is black, the rest are yellow and have a total of three black transverse bands. Between the first abdominal segment and the first black bandage runs in the middle of the back a narrow black connection, whereby the first yellow segment ring is separated into two parts. The legs are colored rust. The species is easy with the larger Volucella zonaria ( Volucella zonaria ) to be confused, but carries only two dark binding on the abdomen.

Occurrence

The animals arrive in Europe east through Central Asia prior to Siberia from plains to high positions. You are in the south of Central Europe in many places often, in the north, however, rare. They are from May to September in the vicinity of forests of flowers, such as arable - thistles, valerian, oregano, privet, Marsh, Ross- mints and umbelliferous plants; but they prefer the color red The larvae develop as parasites in the nests of hornets and yellow jackets.

Swell

• Gerald Bothe: hoverflies. German youth club for nature observation, Hamburg 1996.
• Joachim & Hiroko main: flies and mosquitoes: observation of life. Nature -Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-278-4.
• Kurt Kormann: hoverflies and bubble -headed flies of Central Europe Fauna Nature Guide Volume 1, Fauna -Verlag, Nottuln 2002, ISBN 3-935980-29-9