Volucella zonaria (Poda, 1761)
(Hornet Hoverfly)

Taxonomic hierarchy:
SpeciesVolucella zonaria (Hornet Hoverfly)
GenusVolucella (a genus of hoverflies)
TribeVolucellini (a tribe of hoverflies)
SubfamilyMILESIINAE (a subfamily of hoverflies)
FamilySYRPHIDAE (hover flies, drone flies, flower flies, hoverfly)
SuperfamilySYRPHOIDEA (hover flies, drone flies, flower flies & big-headed flies)
InfraorderEremoneura - Cyclorrhapha (an infraorder of flies)
OrderDIPTERA (two-winged flies)
Division Endopterygota (bees, beetles, flies, moths and other insects with wings developing internally)
InfraclassNeoptera (bees, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other advanced insects)
SubclassPTERYGOTA (bees, beetles, dragonflies, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other winged insects)
ClassINSECTA (true insects)
SubphylumHEXAPODA (insects and other 6-legged organisms)
PhylumARTHROPODA (arthropods)
SuperphylumECDYSOZOA (skin shedders)
CladeBilateria (bilaterally symmetrical animals)
SubkingdomEUMETAZOA (metazoans)
KingdomANIMALIA (animals)
DomainEukaryota (eukaryotes)
LifeBIOTA (living things)
Records of Volucella zonaria (Hornet Hoverfly) :
1: Volucella zonaria (Hornet Hoverfly)
23 Aug 2015 OSGR: SU00 50° 50’ N, 1° 50’ W Vice County: Dorset (VC 9) England
Male, visiting Eucryphia
Image 1: Male - dorsal view - visiting flowerImage 2: Male - dorsal view - visiting flower (2)Image 3: Male - dorsal view - visiting flower (3)Image 4: Male - lateral view - visiting flowerImage 5: Male - lateral view - visiting flower (2)Image 6: Male - lateral view - visiting flower (3)Image 7: Male - latero-dorsal view - visiting flowerImage 8: Male - latero-dorsal view - visiting flower (2)Image 9: Male - latero-dorsal view - visiting flower (3)Image 10: Male - latero-dorsal view - visiting flower (4)Image 11: Male - latero-dorsal view - visiting flower (5)Image 12: Male - latero-dorsal view - visiting flower (6)Image 13: Male - posterior view - visiting flowerImage 14: Male - postero-dorsal view - visiting flowerImage 15: Male - postero-lateral view - visiting flowerImage 16: Male - rear three-quarter view - visiting flowerImage 17: Male - rear three-quarter view - visiting flower (2)
2: Volucella zonaria (Hornet Hoverfly)
22 Jul 1971 OSGR: TQ20 50° 50’ N, 0° 10’ W Vice County: East Sussex (VC 14) England
Visiting Yarrow
Image 1: Dorsal view - close-up - enlargedImage 2: Front three-quarter view - enlargedImage 3: Head - side view - enlargedImage 4: Lateral view - enlargedImage 5: Posterior view - enlarged
3: Volucella zonaria (Hornet Hoverfly)
7 Aug 1968 OSGR: TQ20 50° 50’ N, 0° 10’ W Vice County: East Sussex (VC 14) England
on wall of garage
Image 1: Face view - feeding on sugar solution in captivity

Identification Works

AuthorYearTitleSource
Morris, R.K.A. & Ball, S.G. 2002 An introduction to British hoverflies and the Hoverfly Recording Scheme British Wildlife Vol 14, No 1: 38-45.

Volucella zonaria (Hornet Hoverfly) may also be included in identification literature listed under the following higher taxa:

NBNNBN (data.nbn.org.uk) has a distribution map for Volucella zonaria (Hornet Hoverfly)
BioInfoBioInfo (www.bioinfo.org.uk) has 1 host/parasite/foodplant and/or other relationships for Volucella zonaria (Hornet Hoverfly)
Creative Commons License
This website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, all original material on the BioImages website by Malcolm Storey is licensed under the above Creative Commons Licence.

Photographs from other photographers are used with permission but not included under the above CC licence.

BioImages - Virtual Field-Guide (UK)