Hoverfly Art: Volucellae and Bees

Investigating Hoverfly Art

Animal Coloration: F.E.Beddard (1892)

In perusing the internet about Hoverflies I came across this print titled ‘Volucellae and Bees’ Plate IV, from a book by Frank Evers Beddard titled Animal coloration: An Account of the Principal Facts and Theories Relating to the Colours and Marking of Animals (1892) illustrated by Peter Smit and published by Swam Sonnenschein & Co.

It was part of a debate among zoologists, at the time, about the relevance of Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection both following the publication of the Origin of Species in 1859 and the theorem proposed by H.W Bates of his mimicry in biological systems 1862. Beddards’ book was both praised and criticised but is seen these days as covering a wide range of modern biology both theoretical and experimental. 

This book can be read in full at:

https://archive.org/details/animalcoloration00bedd/page/n244/mode/1up?view=theater&q=volucella

There are 7 would be hoverflies depicted on this plate above. However, I count 4 indicated by their shorter antennae, slightly different wing shape and number of wings, a hoverfly only having two wings. How many do you see?

I must point out the wings are not a clear identification feature in this plate as only one bee clearly has four wings, so my reference is on the point of attachment to the thorax in bees this being more pointed than in hoverflies. The other missing feature depicted here is typical Volucella ‘splodge’ marking on the central part of the wing, nor do the legs of the bees exhibit any evidence of pollen baskets. This might be more by design than fault, the whole reason for this illustration being to depict the similarities between the Vollucellae and the humble bee (bumble bee). I think it’s a fair representation of mimicry although not totally accurate, as I detail further below.

In all four hoverfly representations you can just about make out the plumose antennae, a feathery antenna, whereas bees have long antennae. The Volucellae here are all Volucella bombylans, often represented in the literature by the common name Bumblebee Plumehorn. To make things a little more complex this species comes in three/four varieties. So, starting from the top we have the Volucella var.plumata, with its U-shaped markings on the thorax and a white tail. Just below that on the left we possibly have Volucella.haemorrhoidalis, the two yellow rather than red bands at the base of the abdomen makes me doubt this identification it being yellow rather than red, but it still has the yellow U markings on the thorax that typify the Bombylans.plumata variation. Far left centre we have Volucella.typical form and over on the right with all its yellow hairs we have the Volucella.pale-haired which is a much rarer form. As for the bees, 2nd down from the top we have possibly the Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum or jonellus), just below that on in the centre we have possibly the White-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum), and bottom left possibly Red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius or ruderarius). Whether the illustrator designed it on the plate such that the mimicked variety is closest to the humble bee it most resembles is fair to assume but unknown.

The background vegetation is possibly Zig Zag Clover (Trifolium medium) as determined from shape of the leaves and markings on them. Clover is not something I would typically expect Volucella bombylans to visit, due to them having short tongues, however some bees represented here probably would. F.E.Beddard refers to Volucellae on pg225 as a strong case of mimicry but debates a separate species Volucella inanis in great depth rather than the depicted bombylans. He explains how V. inanis, uses and needs its mimicry to get its larvae into the nests of wasps, which I have no doubt bombylans will use the same technique except with the humble bees. He goes on to express this is one of the strongest examples of mimicry that has been put on record to date.

I also do wonder whether the illustrator took a bit of artistic license, as there are possibly two examples one a White-tailed bee and the other the proposed V.haemorrhoidalis variation that could be considered totally incorrectly drawn. At first glance without looking closely one would assume that there are 4 hoverflies and 3 bees and it’s only when you take an even closer look, you could postulate maybe these 2 examples are mimics to prove a point…... nothing however is mentioned in Beddards’ book about this, so it is just mere speculation.

To bring this blog to a close it’s fascinating to find pictures and references to hoverflies in both art and literature and compare this to our understanding and insights that we have now, something I wish to return to at a later blog.