Top: the weird sensation of the day was being in what looked like a wasteland but being serenaded by Skylarks. They must be retrying. I am guessing that similar scenes must have taken place in the spring after the first world war on some of the battlefields. Below: a splash of colour in the brownness - Yellow Wag.
With the moor pretty much deserted, the garden was busier than it might have been.
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| 4 Spot Chaser - Libellula quadrimaculata |
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| Bombus hypnorum - lot of these on bramble |
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| Volucella bombylans var. plumata? |
The Volucella is actually a Hoverfly, not a Bumblebee as it might first appear. Mimesis can also involve looking like someone else rather than something else. There are lots of different types of this type of mimicry but this is an example of Batesian mimicry - looking like someone else to avoid detection. Indeed, these hoverflies manage to sneak into Bumblebee nests to lay their eggs. The larvae then eat debris and dead bees/larvae. It comes in two forms - var. bombylans that looks like Bombus lapidarius and var. plumata that looks like Bombus pratorum/hortorum/leucorum (among others).
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