Whats this rather lethal looking insect???

[superatticman]

Snapped this in the garden yesterday. Very large, bumble bee size and quite mean looking!!

 

Pretty sure its not a hornet though.

 

[bossman]

@superatticman:

 

Could it be a Horsefly?

 

Seems rather similar

 

Google Image Result for http://www.whatsthatbug.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/horse_fly_veronica.jpg

[speckytecky]

Nay - not a horsefly they are about that size but speckled grey in colour with red 'eyes' they seem to fly soundlessly and the first you know about them is when you receive an almighty pain after they have bitten you. Big time ouch! Horse-fly - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The one in your excellent picture seems to be a bee of some sort. We had a bee start nesting in a compost bin in our garden about a month ago. I rang the local bee expert concerned as to what to do about it and the potential for stings and he asked me to leave it be and let the bees get on with their job of pollination telling me that they would evacuate in September. So far they have been good as gold and busily flying in and out on a regular basis.

 

Hornets are nasty looking beasties about four times the size of wasp and slightly darker in colour. I suppose they all play a valuable part in the Eco chain but there is just something about wasps, hornets and flys that has me reaching for the swatter - I get the most satisfaction though from whacking a horse / grey fly as without a doubt a bite from one of them is the one that has left the most painful lasting impression on me!

[Geoff]

It's a hoverfly, pretending to look like a bee.

 

Volucella Hovers

[bossman]

Its a horsefly from Costa Rica:

 

Horse Fly from Costa Rica - What's That Bug?

 

[bossman]

It's a hoverfly, pretending to look like a bee.

 

Volucella Hovers

 

I think you could be right there Geoff

[localzuk]

Its a horsefly from Costa Rica:

 

Horse Fly from Costa Rica - What's That Bug?

 

 

Thanks for the nightmares...

[speckytecky]

Yep @Geoff You do seem to be right. Presumably pretty harmless then? Bet the Costa Rican horsefly isn't though - thank goodness we don't have them here!

 

It's a hoverfly, pretending to look like a bee.

 

Volucella Hovers

[Dos_Box]

There is also a whole family of flies referred to as 'bee mimics' which at first glance appear to be bees:

 

 

 

 

Not to mention moths that look like hornets (the hornet moth)!

 

[GREED]

Yer.... Chris that hornet moth can bugger right off!

[Kitkatninja]

If it ain't a bee, it's lunch for the spiders

[twin--turbo]

It is a cracking photo.

 

Rob

[rickjames]

Bloody love bees.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Yer.... Chris that hornet moth can bugger right off!

 

 

Seconded!

[superatticman]

Gold star for Geoff here. Definitely a species of hoverfly. The pic below was taken from a website depicting several species. Glad its harmless as I was getting a bit nervous when getting close to snap it! Must admit I thought hoverflies were all very small harmless looking things.

 

http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/assets/0612/0000/0033/hoverfly.jpg

 

Hornets can be pretty mean looking and their sting is pretty bad as I once found out to my cost.

[Geoff]

It's only been spotted in the SE UK since 1940 and has steadily been moving North and West.

[Flatpackhamster]

Hoverflies are great for your garden. They love to eat aphids. You can tell it isn't a bee because it only has one pair of wings, not two.

[mattx]

Got a pic of one of these last year or the year before in my garden:

 

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6199/6062857506_6e396a2065_z.jpg

[Geoff]

Hoverflies are great for your garden. They love to eat aphids. You can tell it isn't a bee because it only has one pair of wings, not two.

 

The OPs hoverfly actually feeds on nectar. So no eating the bad bugs. It will help with plant pollination though.

[Dos_Box]

Ph33r Mother Nature!

We went for a walk up Gummers How in Cumbria today and then after took the kids to the nearby Fell Foot National Trust park on the banks of lake Windermere for a go on the playground there. Whilst there we noticed there was a very large insect flying around that decided to finally settle on me (after about 45 mins of us trying to catch it for a photo) and it decided it liked me so much it gave Mrs Dos_Box time to snap these rather wonderful pics:

 

 

 

The culprit here is a 4cm long female Horntail aka the Wood Wasp (Urocerus gigas). It is actually a member of the sawfly family and perfectly harmless, although allowing it to settle on me where I couldn't actually see it took some self-control I can tell you!

The large 'sting' you can see is actually an ovipositor it uses for laying it's eggs into trees. It made our day seeing this whist scaring the beezjesus out of the other parents

Edited August 4, 2013 by Dos_Box

[featured_spectre]

Just so everyone knows....a species has been discovered....flying spiders (I kid you not)...just thought you would all like to know.

[mac_shinobi]

If it ain't a bee, it's lunch for the spiders

 

Wasps ?

[Dos_Box]

Just so everyone knows....a species has been discovered....flying spiders (I kid you not)...just thought you would all like to know.

 

You know the rules. Link, or it didn't happen

[featured_spectre]

http://i.imgur.com/I8bvN.jpg

 

Just a whole buttload of NOPE!

[GREED]

Can you lot kindly bugger off and.... a flying spider would just about be my worst bug ever... not a huge spider fan me