The insect world is a fascinating place. Within it, there are are many which mimic other insects, for a variety of reasons. The Viceroy butterfly for instance, mimics the Monarch in order to trick birds into not eating it. While the Monarch actually tastes bad to birds because of the chemicals its caterpillars ingest from milkweeds, the viceroy butterflies do not.
Bee-mimic insects look like bees. Some of them have this design for the purpose of eating bees, and others to protect themselves from birds and other predators which do not eat bees. There are a variety of both kinds. Some of them mimic bumblebees, some honeybees, some other bees. When we look at the bee-mimic insects, you will see the wondrous world that is out there.
Predatory Bee-Mimic Insects
Despite the fact that there are few birds that would willingly go after bees, there are several insects. One of the most common that uses mimicry is the Robber Fly. These are large flies which grab their prey with their 2 forelegs and then inject the captured prey with digestive saliva. Afterwards, they suck out the liquified insides. What a way to go! There are several species of robber flies which mimic bees. In the Genus Laphria, there are 66 species, all of them bee-mimic robber flies. I myself have found 4 of those species in the Central Great Plains. They look like bumblebees!
Robber flies are predatory towards all insects, including bees, wasps, and butterflies.
Many of the syrphid or hover flies are bee-mimic insects. Even though they look less like bees than the bee-mimic robber flies, they still resemble bees. Many of them are colored with patterns of yellow and black or orange and black, probably to discourage bird predators. Although, there are 10 species of birds in our area which may predate on bees. But most leave them alone.
Syrphid flies are predators of a variety of insects, mainly aphids, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied insects. Their larvae are voracious predators of insects, just like those of lacewings and lady beetles.
Another bee-mimic is are the bee-flies. These insects are pollinators when adults and predators when larvae. For example, the Greater Bee Fly adult pollinates many tubular flowers, while its larva attacks wasps and bees in their larval stage.
Pollinating Bee-Mimic Insects
There are fewer non-predacious bee-mimics than predators, at least in my part of the world. So far, I have only identified a couple of beetles who mimic bees either by creating a buzzing sound when they fly or by their looks. The bee-like flower scarab does not look much like a bee, but like its cousin the bumble flower beetle, it makes a buzzing sound by not lifting its hardened wing casing when flying. These scarab beetles are pollinators on a variety of plants, and their larvae generally feed in compost and rotting plant material.
Conclusion
Bee-mimicking insects are all around us, you just have to look for them. I am always entranced to see the variety of interesting insects found within my region, among all the different micro-regions. I hope you enjoy looking for new things too.
Happy planting!
