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First published online November 17, 2005
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 4523-4527 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01932

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Flight behaviour during foraging of the social wasp Vespula vulgaris (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) and four mimetic hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) Sericomyia silentis, Myathropa florea, Helophilus sp. and Syrphus sp.

Y. C. Golding¹, M. Edmunds² and A. R. Ennos^1,*

¹ Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, 3.614 Stopford Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
² Department of Environmental Management, University of Central Lancashire, Preston PR1 2HE, UK

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: r.ennos{at}manchester.ac.uk)

Accepted 14 October 2005

Many hoverfly species show specific or non specific morphological resemblance to wasps (Vespula sp.) and it has been suggested that they also show similar flight behaviour. In this study we therefore compared the flight behaviour of wasps with that of four mimetic hoverflies, Sericomyia silentis, Myathropa florea, Helophilus sp. and Syrphus sp., by filming insects while they were foraging on an artificial array of flowers. Films were analysed to determine the routes taken, time spent hovering and flight speed. Of the four flies, only the non specific mimic, Syrphus, showed similar flight behaviour to the wasps; it flew more slowly, and with more roundabout routes than the other flies, hesitating before landing. These results suggest that in hoverflies there is little reason to expect strict correlation between morphological and behavioural mimicry; insects may acquire the similarities to their model more-or-less independently.

Key words: flight, mimicry, Syrphidae, behaviour