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Tree bee and its mimic

Discussion

5 replies
Posted by David Taylor on June 17, 2014 at 12:24 PM
Tree bee and its mimic
The hoverfly mimic taken today. First time I've seen one in my garden.

Fujifilm W3 and Cyclopital macro attachment.
Images arranged with Photo Grid app on my Samsung 12" tablet
Resized and text added in Photo Studio Pro app

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Posted by Dawn Monrose on June 19, 2014 at 2:48 PM
Very interesting David, I've never seen either species as far as I'm aware. I take it they are also very similar in size too?

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Posted by David Taylor on June 20, 2014 at 5:49 AM
Thanks for commenting Dawn. :wavey: Tree bees apparently first seen in the UK around 2001 and have been spreading quite rapidly ever since. A beautiful bee which nests in holes in trees and bird boxes. The hoverfly mimic is slightly smaller but very similar in appearance, I've not seen one before.

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Posted by Kim Connolly on June 21, 2014 at 8:12 AM
Nice one David, are they related to the White tailed Bee.
Posted by Nick on June 21, 2014 at 2:10 PM
We've just spotted we've a nest of Tree Bees in one of our Bird boxes this year. Seems they've managed to successfully evict some wasps as there's the start of a wasp's nest at the top of the box, but no longer any wasps to be found!
Posted by keith mitchell on June 21, 2014 at 2:56 PM
David you have answered a question for me, think these are the same Bees that are using a nest box on my house, we live and learn.
Thanks Keith.