Striped fly similar to a wasp - name, photo and description

Why do insects imitate wasps?

Wasps, in order to feed and raise their offspring, are forced to hunt. They are able to attack even insects that are smaller in size. Their powerful jaws and the poison they inject into their prey help them cope with their prey. Due to the predatory characteristics of wasps, many representatives of the fauna are afraid of them and prefer to stay away from dangerous predators. The weaker imitators took advantage of this.

There is also a hypothesis, confirmed by research, that for some insects that mimic wasps, the camouflage color protects them directly from the models themselves. A striking example of this: the predatory South American wasps and the peaceful moth moths, which exactly imitate them, and not every specialist can distinguish them. During observations, it was noticed that the wasps did not attack their own kind.

There are many insects similar to wasps in the world. Let's consider the most interesting and prominent representatives.

Mimicry

As already mentioned, syrphids are very similar in appearance to stinging insects - wasps, bees, bumblebees. The hoverflies seem to be camouflaged as them, and their striped black and yellow coloring helps them in this. But upon closer examination, you can notice the difference:

syrphids have much shorter antennae (for example, a wasp has antennae up to 1 cm);
they are smaller than wasps, bees, etc. (excluding especially large species);
they have 1 pair of wings, while the stinging ones have 2.

But even with these minor differences, nothing prevents syrphids from feeling quite at ease and boldly in nature: their external imitation (mimicry, from the English word mimicry - disguise, imitation) of dangerous stinging insects is so believable that few birds risk attacking them, especially if you have already had a sad experience of contact with a wasp. But all this is despite the absolute harmlessness and even some defenselessness of the syrphids.

Nature has endowed these flies with such a coloring, thanks to which they may not be afraid of attacks from enemies. Hence several more popular names for hoverflies: bee-eater, wasp-fly, wasp fly, etc.

The closer it gets to autumn, the more painfully the flies bite. Sometimes it seems that these are not tiny insects, but a real tiger that has grabbed your leg. Especially when you notice the shifty bully too late and give him time to prepare a full-fledged “strike.”

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Hornets and bees

Hornets are omnivorous in nature. They feed mostly on the sweet pulp of various fruits, but they are also predators. These giant wasps feed their larvae with caught and killed insects, while the adults themselves are not averse to snacking on a caught beetle or bee.

To a greater extent, these are very useful creatures for humans. A colony of these striped hunters that settles next to a gardener’s home can protect the crop from most harmful insects. Hornets are at the top of the invertebrate food chain and can bring half a kilogram of live food per day to feed themselves and their larvae.

But in an apiary environment, the benefit of these predators ends. Hornets are a real beekeeper's scourge. The bee and the hornet are the prey and the hunter. Hornets and bees are long-standing and primordial enemies, because one of the main hunting objects for this giant wasp is the honey worker. Fed on killed bees (and wasps as well), their larvae receive all the necessary nutrients they need for development.

Bees are practically defenseless against hornets. If a scout wasp notices the presence of a bee hive on the territory, without protective measures on the part of the beekeeper, the hive is doomed. Even one huge hornet can destroy dozens of bees, crushing them with its jaws and using a deadly sting.

The main goal of a hornet invasion of a hive is not the bees themselves, but the honey. The sweet substance is a real wealth for wasps; it can feed the entire colony in abundance.

Bees have only one effective method to deal with one hornet. By attacking a wasp in a swarm and enclosing it in a continuous living vibrating “cocoon,” the bees can kill the enemy by creating overheating conditions for him inside this trap, created from the bees themselves, constantly moving around the wasp.

Features of the genus

So who are the hornets? The genus Hornets belongs to the family of true wasps. That is why representatives of this genus fit well into the external framework inherent in ordinary wasps. At the same time, there are some differences that will not allow these, albeit close, but still different taxonomic groups of Hymenoptera insects, to be confused.

What does a hornet look like next to a wasp? Large hornets differ from other wasps primarily in their large size. The dimensions of an insect such as a hornet range from 1.8 to 5.5 cm in length, depending on the species. Also, the wingspan of these largest wasps in the world can reach 8 cm. And this large wasp, in addition to its serious dimensions, has very powerful and impressive jaws, which also differs from most other wasps.

Among the differences between representatives of the hornet genus and other wasps, some differences in color should also be mentioned. The hornet insect has the same striped abdomen as most wasps. Moreover, if the color of the wasp is dominated by only two colors, namely black and yellow, then the color of the hornet is somewhat darker, and orange and brown shades have found their place in the color palette.

Well, we cannot ignore that unpleasant part of the story about this huge wasp, which concerns the main weapon of these stinging hymenoptera. It’s no secret that wasps tend to use their sting for its intended purpose in case of danger.

Although, it must be said that the wasp’s sting performs not only the function of an injection needle for treating a presumptuous enemy with a portion of poison. It is also a reduced insect ovipositor.

The sting of this insect is longer than that of a common wasp, and delivers a greater dose of venom than a bee, bumblebee or most wasps, making this miniature "tiger" a formidable opponent for any living creature that provokes its wrath.

Therefore, such cinematic epithets as “murder hornets” are often and, it must be said, not unreasonably used in relation to these not very cocky, but certainly capable of standing up for themselves insects.

Features and habitat

It is no coincidence that the described creature received the nickname “rider”. By placing their eggs, these insects seem to saddle their victims, taking a pose above them. The entire life of an adult is subordinated to the desire to continue its race, and therefore represents an endless search for suitable carriers (owners) who raise and feed their offspring, although not of their own free will.

Adults are mainly active at night. In warm months, they tend to stay in sparsely populated places, close to water bodies, often occupying areas among flowering grasses, where there are more suitable insects - potential prey. But still, the environment of equestrians largely depends on the location of the distribution of carriers on which this species parasitizes.

Riders cope with sedentary organisms without much difficulty; they are not able to actively resist. But with some it is more difficult, because sometimes even large spiders and scorpions become targets of attack. In such cases, riders have to use their courage, dexterity and even sometimes ingenuity.

However, for such cases, nature has endowed these parasites with special abilities. Sometimes, to subdue the target of attack, a significant proportion of paralyzing poison is simply injected. In some cases, the riders practically hypnotize their victims and thus control and direct their actions.

When infecting moth caterpillars, some species of moths place their eggs in their internal tissues. Then the larvae develop there, eating the nutrient liquid, and when they grow, they get out and are caught on the skin.

What is shocking is that when the parasites, trying to pupate, leave the host’s body and spin their cocoon, attaching it to branches or leaves, the zombified caterpillar does not happily crawl away, but remains with its tormentors in order to protect them from the attacks of predators.

She becomes a zealous bodyguard, risking her own life by attacking stink bugs and other very dangerous insects. Why the caterpillars do this, and how the riders so subordinate their will to their interests, is not fully understood.

But it is largely due to zombie victims that riders manage to successfully survive and spread. Wherever the ichneumon lives, such insects successfully exist all over the world, take root in many environments and everywhere they find carriers, at the expense of which they reproduce.

Hover flies

Hoverflies, also known as syrphids, are a large family with about 6,000 species. Some of them look more like bees, others like wasps, and others like bumblebees. They live everywhere, with the exception of Antarctica, desert areas and tundra. They got their name because of the characteristic sound made by their wings.

Interesting! Syrphidologists study hoverflies. They even hold special symposiums dedicated to fly research.

A striped insect, similar to a wasp, absolutely harmless to humans. It can often be found in plantings of dill, carrots, parsley, and flowering plants in the garden. Adult hoverflies feed exclusively on flower nectar and pollen and occupy an honorable place among pollinating insects

Lifestyle, nutrition, reproduction

Adult insects are very maneuverable and can change direction to the exact opposite very abruptly. Thanks to the rapid movement of its wings, the fly often hovers in one place and seems to hover in the air above the flowers, as if choosing which one has the most delicacy.

The larvae are voracious, and the older they get, the more and more actively they eat. They feed mainly on small insect pests - caterpillars, psyllids, spider mites, small butterflies and aphids. They literally suck the latter alive. One syrphid larva can suck up to 200 aphids in one day, and one can imagine how a whole brood of such larvae will benefit the garden. It is on plants affected by aphids that one can often notice a cluster of syrphid larvae. In addition, the larvae can be localized in the nests of other insects, rotten rotting wood, and on large plants.

In the larval stage, flies hoverflies and overwinter. In the spring, pupae appear from them, and by the end of June, young adults appear, starting their years already in July.

During the period of courtship with females, males hover in the air above them and make a sound similar to gurgling. A similar, but slightly different sound can be heard from syrphids at other times, hence their popular name - hoverflies. Mating of these flies can occur right in the air. Also, while hovering, males protect their territory, driving away rivals.

Danger and harm of bee fly larvae

Eristalis tenax, or milkweeds, are the larvae of the bee fly that live at the bottom of small and dirty ponds and lakes, puddles, and farm wastewater. To breathe, they float to the surface of the water and put out a long tube, which reaches up to 27 cm and is capable of decreasing and increasing. Because of their resemblance to the tail, beekeeper larvae are called rats.

The adult that hatches from the larva is the eristalia fly. It flies out in the autumn season and feeds on flower nectar.

In appearance and color it resembles a bee. The bee fly larva has an undeveloped head and no eyes. The underdeveloped mouth is covered with a fold. There are no legs, but growths are visible at the bottom of the body. The rat has 7 pairs of false legs: 6 on the abdomen and 1 on the chest. Thanks to them, the fly crawls. A two-centimeter cylinder with a long tube at the end, which allows it to live in polluted or oxygen-free waters.

When it’s time for pupation, the bee crawls out to the coast. It transforms into a pupa inside the larval skin.

A couple of centuries ago there was an opinion that bees were born from carrion. The reason for the myth was a rat that can live in rotten liquid and turn into a wasp fly.

Note! The rat signals water pollution. If rats appear in a pond, it is better to avoid swimming in dirty water.

The entry of bee larvae into the human body gives rise to accidental intestinal myiasis. Infection occurs when eggs of the pathogen are swallowed with food or eggs are laid by a fly in the anus, from where the larvae make their way into the rectum.

Bee fly larvae

Symptoms, diagnosis, therapy

Maturation of larvae in the intestines leads to the development of enteritis.

Its manifestations:

abdominal pain and diarrhea;
nausea and anal itching;
insomnia and dizziness;
lethargy.

Sometimes the disease is asymptomatic.

The disease is diagnosed through laboratory tests of stool. Treat with laxatives, metronidazole, nifuroxazide.

Eristalis tenax larvae can cause genitourinary myiasis or vulvar myiasis.

Pathology is registered in:

Africa and India;
Argentina and Iran;
Australia and Chile;
Brazil and European countries (Spain, Belgium, Denmark).

Hoverflies, or syrphids, can easily be confused with their stinging counterparts: a bee or a wasp. They are an important component of the biosphere. Flies clear the planet of plant debris and are unsafe for humans.

Striped fly

Temnostoma wasp is a large fly from the hoverfly family, very similar to a wasp. On a long body (up to 18 mm) there are 2 transparent wings. In the center of the dark head there is a shiny stripe and reddish mustache. There are thin golden hairs on the chest and scutum. The oval abdomen is covered with transverse yellow-black lines.

Attention! Sometimes the marks merge, leaving a narrow brown spot.

Wasp-like flies live in deciduous forests where there is a lot of rotting vegetation. Found in river valleys and mountains. Temnostoma axialis is common in:

Europe;
Asia;
North Africa;
Greenland;
America.

The wasps have a housing problem.

Wasps do not have organs capable of secreting wax, so they build their nests from a substance similar to thin cardboard. We can observe a similar process in one of our common species - the Saxon wasp. To do this, she scrapes off old wood on dry trunks, stumps and even fences, leaving longitudinal grooves. Then, after chewing it and mixing it with saliva, it builds a spherical nest, which it places on tree branches, under overhanging rocks or roofs of houses. Which makes this neighborhood fraught with trouble for both people and wasps. Therefore, the invasion of wasps into human territory always ends equally sadly for the wasp family - with the destruction of the nest.

Predator

A black insect that looks like a single ground wasp. The bug has an elongated body and mustache. Similarities with a wasp are found due to its striped abdomen. The upper part is covered in black, covered with wings, and wide black and yellow stripes are clearly visible below.

The predator bug itself is a predator; it easily attacks even poisonous spiders. Distributed everywhere. The brightest representatives live in tropical countries. It is active at night and remains hidden during the day.

Some species feed on the blood of humans and warm-blooded animals and are subject to destruction. Most of them attack insects and spiders. It has great endurance. It can sit in hiding for a long time, waiting for prey. As soon as he sees her, he immediately rushes to attack. Sticks the proboscis, launches a toxic substance. The poison instantly paralyzes the victim.

The same behavior is observed in road and ground wasps. These representatives of the wasp family are called predators due to the need to lay eggs in the body of the prey. The larvae dig into the belly and eat away from the inside. Until the end of the cycle, only the shell remains of the beetle, spider, and large larvae.

Insect copycats

A black insect that looks like a wasp is a predator. Outwardly, it has much in common with predatory road wasps, capable of preying even on poisonous spiders.

Unlike its predecessors, the predator does not need to mimic wasps. He himself is a predator, feeding on insects and larvae. Some tropical species have a preference for human or mammalian blood. They spend the daytime in shelter and go hunting at night. They are distinguished by their remarkable endurance and are able to wait for their prey for several hours.

At the sight of prey, the predatory bug makes a sharp lunge, pierces its proboscis and injects poisonous enzymes. Then it’s a matter of technique and it’s not difficult for an insect to cope with an immobilized object. The hunting process is similar for the road wasp.

It is impossible not to mention another black insect, similar to a wasp. This is a representative of the longhorned beetles, Plagionotus. Its dark body is generously covered with yellow spots and stripes, which allows the beetle to sit imposingly in flowers, without fear of competition from wasps or bees.

The striped beetle feeds on nectar and takes part in pollinating flowers. In case of danger, it begins to quickly flap its wings, thereby increasing its resemblance to a wasp.

How to get rid

A wasp sting is most dangerous for children and people with individual intolerance. If the insect nest is located close to your home, then it is better to get rid of it. This can be done both with the help of chemicals and using a mechanical method of control.

Chemical control

Most often, chemicals can be found in aerosol form. The concentrated insecticide does not poison the ground and is practically safe for people.

Most Popular:

Moskitol. It is necessary to spray strictly in an open space. If you need to spray the hole, then reduce the dose by 2-3 times.
Gett. A powerful, odorless drug. It has a long-lasting effect, as it remains active for 5-6 months after spraying.

Karbofos and Troapsil are no less popular.

Physical methods

The nest should be removed from the property wearing a protective suit or after pre-treating the area with chemicals. If the nest is located in the ground, then you can dig up the area and pour boiling water over it.

When it is necessary to lure out adults, sweet traps are used. They are made from a plastic bottle and compote or fruit juice. The bottle is cut in half and the upper part is placed neck down into the lower part, where the sweet liquid is poured.

What do fly larvae look like?

After maggots hatch from the eggs, they undergo certain changes over the course of 10-15 days. They are white-yellow or gray in color, with a small dark brown head equipped with two mouth hooks. The tail of such a worm is slightly rounded and has a depression - there are respiratory plates on it, and if you look closely, two dark dots are visible in this place. At a certain stage of its development, the maggot burrows deep into the soil and begins the process of forming a pupa.

It has an oval, oblong shape, color varies from dark brown to red-brown. An adult green fly climbs to the surface of the earth.

Butterflies in the form of wasps

A large insect that looks like a wasp may turn out to be quite an ordinary glass butterfly. However, this is not the only remarkable thing about the airy fluttering creatures. Most of them are distinguished by transparent wings. And if not for the contrasting border, it would be impossible to visually determine the presence of wings.

The most common species in the European part are poplar, currant, and apple. The insect is associated with the wasp exclusively by its bright yellow striped body color and flight style. Otherwise, it is a typical garden pest. The female lays eggs under bark scales near the buds. After a few days, caterpillars emerge from them, gnaw holes in the shoots and penetrate deep into the plant. They gnaw out the core, gradually descending to the base of the tree or bush. After wintering, they continue to eat the plant from the inside. And although an insect similar to a wasp does not bite a person, its harmfulness is significant. The offspring are located inside the trunks and branches, so the emerging pest can only be dealt with in a radical way - by pruning and destroying the affected areas.

An interesting picture is presented by the mating games of glass butterflies. The males gather in a circle near the female and begin to flutter around the lady, as if surprising her with their abilities and showing themselves in all their glory. The female can only choose the individual she likes.

Climaciella brunnea

The insect is very similar to a wasp, with a long body, and has huge limbs like a praying mantis. A representative of the mantispid family can be recognized by its thin, graceful body, colored brown with yellow horizontal stripes. Predators have well-developed enlarged front legs, which they use to grab prey. Males live only in the spring before mating.

Reproduction of wasp families

How do wasps reproduce?

The future queen wasp begins building the nest alone. In early spring, she makes several paper cells from chewed wood fibers and lays one egg in them. The care of the larvae is completely entrusted to the queen: she needs to raise assistants from them - several working wasps.

She feeds her children crushed insects and caterpillars. When the larvae grow into adult insects, they immediately begin to expand the nest and feed the queen and her offspring. And from that moment on, she only deals with laying eggs, simultaneously keeping order in the nest, biting and stinging the offending worker wasps. Over the summer, the wasp family grows to several hundred worker wasps. In autumn, from the eggs laid by the queen, it is no longer workers who develop, but females and males. They then fly out of the nest and mate.

After this, the males and all the worker wasps die, and the females, huddled away, plunge into suspended animation. Next spring they come out to the sun and the cycle repeats again.

Female Austrian wasps do not build nests, but rather capture the nests of red wasps. Having climbed into such a nest, the female Austrian kills or drives out its queen red wasp and begins to lay her own eggs. Working red wasps, not noticing that the capture has occurred, continue to serve the invader and her offspring as they previously served their queen. This phenomenon - the seizure and appropriation of a nest - is called kleptoparasitism (from the Greek “klepto” - “steal”) and is found not only in insects.

Red Reaper Ant: 3.0

The red harvester ant provides a great service to farmers as it eats many pests. These ants have a nearly square head with a relatively long body without a spine, and their reddish-orange color distinguishes them from other ant species. The positive thing is that they attack rather reluctantly, although they do have a painful sting. Schmidt describes the sting from these ants as bold and relentless, and the bite feels like drilling out an ingrown toenail. According to the Pain Index, the pain of a red harvester ant bite is 3.0.

Road wasp (Pompilidae)

Pompil

truly a unique wasp, which has chosen as its prey creatures that are ferocious both in appearance and in essence. The entire life of this graceful and swift wasp is spent in constant battle with an enemy that most often exceeds it in size. Undoubtedly, this wasp deserves to bear the proud title of winged bullfighter.

After all, spiders

- these are arthropods, almost all of which are predators.
Except for one - Bagheera kiplingi
, which is a herbivorous spider, all the rest are natural hunters. But in this case, the spiders themselves become prey.

Bee

Insects similar to wasps are bees. They are extremely often confused with each other. A bee and a wasp have some similarities in their lifestyle, they even sting just as painfully. The bee has a round shape, the head and chest are gray-black with thick, long yellow hairs. Massive paws, long whiskers are clearly visible. A striking distinctive feature is the absence of a “wasp waist” - a thin bridge between the chest and abdomen. The color is yellow-black, but the stripes are narrower and covered with yellow hairs.

Basic characteristics of the wasp

The insect belongs to the Hymenoptera family.
A characteristic feature of individuals is the presence of a so-called “wasp waist”. The abdomen and sternum are connected by a small thin plate. The wings consist of two sections. The front is always larger than the back. The wings are thin and transparent, with translucent veins. In some individuals, they shimmer in the sun and acquire a purple tint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbmZGY4Z58Y

There is a sting at the bottom of the abdomen. It looks like a thin needle. The sting connects to a special gland that produces poison. Depending on the type of wasp, the toxicity of the released substance also varies.

to protect the nest;
in self-defense;
to immobilize the enemy.

The paws consist of five parts. Antennae are used to navigate in space. They pick up any sounds and also react to smell. Most wasps are yellow-black or orange-black in color.

Longhorn beetle

Imitates the color of Plagionotonus wasps, a representative of longhorned beetles. Outwardly it resembles a bug. Hard chitinous cover, oblong body, head clearly visible, very long, curled mustache. There are no transparent wings, the insect rarely flies. Color black and yellow with stripes.

The body length of an adult reaches 22 mm. The female lays eggs in the wood. During its entire life it reproduces about 100 thousand of its own kind. The larvae gnaw through numerous tunnels and damage the tree. Transformation into an adult takes a long time - up to 10 years. A typical representative of pests with which humans wage a merciless fight.

An insect that closely resembles wasps is a representative of the same family - the hornet. The largest species, characterized by aggressive behavior. Destroys wasp and bee hives. The size of the body reaches 3 cm, the average wasp is 1.5 cm. Massive body, powerful jaws, strong limbs. The giant wasp bites painfully and the venom causes severe allergies.

Wasps are unique insects whose lifestyle, behavior, and physiological abilities are a constant object of study. Insects that have external similarities with them are no longer similar.

Why are wild wasps dangerous?

Almost all wild wasps are capable of stinging quite painfully. At the same time, the strength of its bite and possible consequences for humans depend on the biology of the insect:

for example, it would seem that large and terrible scolia sting relatively weakly and with virtually no serious consequences, since their venom is intended primarily to immobilize already inactive and harmless prey.
But the venom of many species of hornets is so strong that it causes extensive swelling and very acute pain. Sometimes an allergic reaction to such a bite can lead to anaphylactic shock and death. Huge tropical hornets are especially dangerous in this regard - several simultaneous bites can cause internal bleeding.

Among the wasps there is also an insect with one of the most painful bites in the world: the road wasp Pepsis elegans, whose main prey is tarantulas, is considered the second most painful insect in the world after the South American bullet ant.

Rider

An insect with a long body and a sting makes many puzzle over the name of this creature. The wasps are solitary wasps. They do not build typical nests and do not swarm. Distributed everywhere, including many genera and species. They differ in color and body length. Some have no wings at all, more like an ant.

The most striking representative is the equestrian with a long tail. An elongated black body, high limbs, narrow wings, and a sting. Unlike other wasps, ichneumon wasps use a sting to lay eggs. They pierce the victim’s body, inject poison, and lay their offspring. This is where the female's mission ends. The larvae develop independently. The victims include spiders, beetles, butterflies, and larvae of large insects.

About harm and benefit

Not everyone knows that the hoverfly is not capable of biting, since it has neither a sting nor poison.
Speaking about the harm and benefits of these “false” wasps, everything depends directly on their type. Quite the opposite can be said about herbivorous hoverflies. Such flies are a source of great problems for owners of garden plots, causing damage to onions, garlic, hyacinth bulbs, daffodils, gladioli and tulips. As a result, damaged plants begin to hurt and dry out. The bulbs of flower crops suffer no less, not producing good reproduction.