Bee I.D

[Splitpin]

Way ... off topic , there i was last night , out on the deck with a chilled Chardonnay , enjoying the last of the light (and a double rainbow) when i spotted 2 odd looking bee type creatures .
I've never seen them before , at first i thought they were honey bees , and then maybe a wasp (social or german) .... but no.
These things (2 of them) were very noisy when flying , they were in and out of flowers, and seemed to be communicating between flower visits (as in , hovering in front of each other)
When they were in a flower , i had a good view of their arft regions .... nothing like a honey bee or any wasp I've seen before .... no stinger , or pointed bits like a wasp.

They flew like those .... i call them , hover flies , very rapid movements in all directions.
General description : About the size of a blow fly , Banded yellow and a dark colour (like a wasp) but the rear end was smooth looking ... as i said , no stinger , and not pointed .
And of course , tonight i get home after 12 hours slog , and their nowhere to be seen ....

And before it comes up ..... i only had 2 drinks

Ahhhh , I'm so glad its the small things that attract my attention these days( by choice) , otherwise i dont think its worth going on , the world is just a bloody mess ....at the moment

So ,............ What are these elusive winged beings that sent me googling in Chardonnay time ?

[emfrat]

I'm a Sauv Blanc man meself, at least in the 38C weather we are having
I think you may be bang on with your hover fly name....
http://www.terrain.net.nz/friends-of-te-he...zealandiae.html

[scaber]

QUOTE (Splitpin @ Jan 17 2015,7:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Way ... off topic , there i was last night , out on the deck with a chilled Chardonnay , enjoying the last of the light (and a double rainbow) when i spotted 2 odd looking bee type creatures .
...
And before it comes up ..... i only had 2 drinks

And here I was thinking that you had come across a photo of a GeeBee R1 or something similar somewhere in your internet rambling . . .

[Ian Warren]

Out mowing the lawn yesterday afternoon and I was chased down by three wasps .

[Splitpin]

Great read Mike , but thats not him or her .
The body is much wider and the last band is bright yellow and smooth looking.
Im away again soon for another 11-12 hr day , but I'll try and spot them again when i get back .... maybe catch one .

Enjoy the Sauv blanc .... but not right now

[Ian Warren]

After the three chasing after me yesterday I do wonder if there is another wasp problem, they had this problem in 1985/6 on Banks Peninsular and course hives building in the corners of people houses, I had a room filled with them one night because I left a window open and it was server in the West Coast , from memory two separate occasions people admitted to hospital.

[scaber]

QUOTE (Splitpin @ Jan 18 2015,9:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Great read Mike , but thats not him or her .
The body is much wider and the last band is bright yellow and smooth looking.
Im away again soon for another 11-12 hr day , but I'll try and spot them again when i get back .... maybe catch one .

Enjoy the Sauv blanc .... but not right now

Sounds like a drone fly to me with that behaviour and size - they are wider bodied than most Hover flies. They do tend to have a few hairs on their abdomen so not quite as smooth as a true wasp - though these may not show up unless you are quite close and can see around the sides of the abdomen. Also, they will only have 1 pair of wings rather than 2 pairs of wings like bees and wasps.

A glass of Sav. sounds like a good move to me on these warmish evenings. . .

[Splitpin]

QUOTE (scaber @ Jan 18 2015,10:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sounds like a drone fly to me with that behaviour and size - they are wider bodied than most Hover flies. They do tend to have a few hairs on their abdomen so not quite as smooth as a true wasp - though these may not show up unless you are quite close and can see around the sides of the abdomen. Also, they will only have 1 pair of wings rather than 2 pairs of wings like bees and wasps.

A glass of Sav. sounds like a good move to me on these warmish evenings. . .

Im back .... what a day , #7 at 11hrs no wonder i cant put on weight

Sitting out on the deck ... its 18.42 hrs , and its still 31.6 c here .
Anyway , re the mystery bug .... Its not a drone fly/ bee , I'm pretty certain it is a type of hover fly , or a flower fly , as they are also known.
The investigation continues , thank you for your list of possible suspects .... but i will catch this bugger , and find out what it is.