Not a B.

Flower Friday, hosted by BikerBear with the “twist” being “B”. I’ve had a sneak preview of entries posted so far and it’s causing some problems with most Blippers resorting to the Beautiful Blooming Blip way around the difficulty. I’m not belittling anybody’s effort as I have the same issue.
 
My way out is that, several times, I have seen these little chaps referred to as honey bees. I’ve even known a competition judge make the mistake contradicting the photographer who had correctly described the insect.
 
This is a hoverfly, one of about 270 species known in Britain and a wasp mimic. Other species mimic various varieties of bees of which there is a similar number of species, most of them being solitary while 24 are bumblebees, but there is only 1 honeybee specie (although there are half a dozen races kept by beekeepers which hybridise with one another and with the native giving rise to mongrels).
 
So, why is this not a bee? First, it has no hair; I might be wrong, but I don’t think there are any bees that don’t have it. Then the eyes, this one has two enormous compound eyes; they take up most of its head; its defences against predators are: its mimicry of a beast that stings, its agile flight (due to its long slender wings) and its ability to see the enemy. All adult hoverflies are fertile, so predation means an abrupt end of the victim’s family tree.
 
I’m planning on a honeybee for the next Tiny Tuesday Blip to show the contrasting features of the bee.

I've just posted yesterday's, "Tryptic of Lenses."