17 October 2013

The return of native bees in Canberra? Nope, hoverflys

| johnboy
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native bees

I was long ago told these little guys are native bees.

But I’ve only ever seen them on their own before.

Now across the Inner North I’m seeing huge numbers of them.

bees bees bees native bees

Anyone else noticed this as unusual or have any ideas as to why?

UPDATE: Thanks to Switch for correcting me, they’re hoverflys.

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thatsnotme said :

switch said :

switch said :

I’ve also noticed them in large numbers, around the sort of tree in the photos (photinia?). Unfortunately, they are hoverflys, not native bees.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=hoverfly

ps Is there a site that does “Let me Google that for you” type searches without the sarcasm? I apologise for it in this instance, it wasn’t called for at all.

You can just do the search yourself, then copy the URL from the completed search. If you want to neaten it up before pasting, use something like tinyurl.com, which will turn your search into http://tinyurl.com/mwfn47t

Or you could just hyperlink your search result like this

Yeah, apparently the most common native bees around town (I don’t know what they are called) look rather like large houseflies. I have a shrub in my yard that is covered in them when it is flowering, and a visitor who knows about these things told me this when I asked him how come this shrub was always covered in flies when in flower.

And if I may be forgiven for correcting your spelling, the plural form of hoverfly is hoverflies.

bearlikesbeer12:56 pm 17 Oct 13

mossrocket said :

My son was stung by one a couple of weeks ago – he was rather upset by the experience…

“Hover flies, with their yellow markings, resemble wasps or bees but do not bite or sting.”

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/273341/hover-fly

google.com/#q=hoverfly

switch said :

switch said :

I’ve also noticed them in large numbers, around the sort of tree in the photos (photinia?). Unfortunately, they are hoverflys, not native bees.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=hoverfly

ps Is there a site that does “Let me Google that for you” type searches without the sarcasm? I apologise for it in this instance, it wasn’t called for at all.

You can just do the search yourself, then copy the URL from the completed search. If you want to neaten it up before pasting, use something like tinyurl.com, which will turn your search into http://tinyurl.com/mwfn47t

They are quite lovely in flight, whatever they are called.

HiddenDragon11:55 am 17 Oct 13

I’ve seen a few, too, and at first worried that they were European wasps in drag, lulling us into a false sense of security.

switch said :

I’ve also noticed them in large numbers, around the sort of tree in the photos (photinia?). Unfortunately, they are hoverflys, not native bees.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=hoverfly

ps Is there a site that does “Let me Google that for you” type searches without the sarcasm? I apologise for it in this instance, it wasn’t called for at all.

I’ve also noticed them in large numbers, around the sort of tree in the photos (photinia?). Unfortunately, they are hoverflys, not native bees.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=hoverfly

Tony Abbott turned back the boat of European Bees?

There are heaps down Southside too… My son was stung by one a couple of weeks ago – he was rather upset by the experience…

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