Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods) ➔ Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods) ➔ Class Insecta (Insects) ➔ Order Diptera (True flies) ➔ Family Syrphidae (Hoverflies)

Temnostoma bombylans (Fabricius, 1805)

Hummel-Moderholzschwebfliege

Synonyms and other combinations:

Milesia zetterstedtii Fallen, 1816 | Temnostoma flavifemur Krivosheina, 2002 | Temnostoma japonicum Hull, 1944 | Temnostoma nitobei Matsumura, 1916 |

  • Temnostoma bombylans, male 3457
    Temnostoma bombylans (Fabricius, 1805)  Hummel-Moderholzschwebfliege   
    Temnostoma bombylans, male
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2010-05-29 13:03:48
    Image number: 3457
    male
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2010-05-29 13:03:48
  • Temnostoma bombylans, male 508
    Temnostoma bombylans (Fabricius, 1805)  Hummel-Moderholzschwebfliege   
    Temnostoma bombylans, male
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2007-05-18 15:02:02
    Image number: 508
    male
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2007-05-18 15:02:02
  • Temnostoma bombylans, male 528
    Temnostoma bombylans (Fabricius, 1805)  Hummel-Moderholzschwebfliege   
    Temnostoma bombylans, male
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2009-05-17 13:59:53
    Image number: 528
    male
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2009-05-17 13:59:53
  • Temnostoma bombylans 3554
    Temnostoma bombylans (Fabricius, 1805)  Hummel-Moderholzschwebfliege   
    Temnostoma bombylans
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2010-06-13 12:10:14
    Image number: 3554

    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2010-06-13 12:10:14
  • Temnostoma bombylans, female 524
    Temnostoma bombylans (Fabricius, 1805)  Hummel-Moderholzschwebfliege   
    Temnostoma bombylans, female
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2008-06-07 09:45:05
    Image number: 524
    female
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2008-06-07 09:45:05
  • Temnostoma bombylans, female 5313
    Temnostoma bombylans (Fabricius, 1805)  Hummel-Moderholzschwebfliege   
    Temnostoma bombylans, female
    DE, Chemnitz, Harthwald; 2012-05-22 12:55:11
    Image number: 5313
    female
    DE, Chemnitz, Harthwald
    2012-05-22 12:55:11
  • Temnostoma bombylans, female 525
    Temnostoma bombylans (Fabricius, 1805)  Hummel-Moderholzschwebfliege   
    Temnostoma bombylans, female
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald; 2008-06-07 09:44:28
    Image number: 525
    female
    DE, Chemnitz, Zeisigwald
    2008-06-07 09:44:28

Classification:
Temnostoma bombylans belongs to the subfamily Eristalinae, tribe Milesiini.
Distribution:
Palaearctic: From Western Europe to Japan; in Europe from southern Scandinavia to the Pyrenees and from the Netherlands to Russia.
Habitat:
Moist deciduous forests with well-developed undergrowth and abundant dead wood.
Description:
Body length 11 - 16 mm; arista bare; thorax black with yellow shoulder spots and narrow yellow stripes; abdomen black with yellow transverse bands.
The large, wasp-like striped hoverfly species is actually unmistakable.
Biology:
Temnostoma bombylans flies from May to July.
The adults fly at a height of 1 to 2 meters. They are often found on the leaves of low-growing plants. Temnostoma bombylans regularly visits the flowers of umbelliferae, Cornus, Hypericum, Ranunculus, Rubus, Sambucus nigra, Sorbus aucuparia and Viburnum opulus. The females are often found on buttercups. The males patrol at a tree stump or trunk suitable for oviposition and chase away other males. Upon arrival of a female, the couple flies away and the place will be occupied by another male.
The larvae of Temnostoma bombylans live in wet tree stumps and dead trunks of beech, oak, maple, willow and lime trees. For their development, they need moist but still firm heartwood from trees that died a few years ago. The larvae have a stocky, muscular body with hooks in the chest area. They bore burrows in the wood, which they keep open for the supply with oxygen. The wood-eating (xylophagous) larvae feed on microorganisms that live in the wood.
The larvae of Temnostoma bombylans require more than a year to develop. In fact, the species forms less than one generation per year.
Natural enemies:
Phaenocarpa barthii (Brues, 1907) - Hymenoptera, Braconidae.
Phaenocarpa tiliae Tobias, 1986 - Hymenoptera, Braconidae.

References, further reading, links:
  1. Pape T. & Thompson F.C. (eds) (2017). Systema Dipterorum (version 2.0, Jan 2011). In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 2017 Annual Checklist (Roskov Y., Abucay L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., DeWalt R.E., Decock W., De Wever A., Nieukerken E. van, Zarucchi J., Penev L., eds.). Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2017. Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands. ISSN 2405-884X.
  2. Gerald Bothe: Bestimmungsschlüssel für die Schwebfliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) Deutschlands und der Niederlande, DJN, 1984, ISBN 3-923376-07-3
  3. M.C.D.Speight: Species Accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera), Glasgow 2011, Syrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae, vol. 65, 285 pp., Syrph the Net publications, Dublin.
  4. Menno Reemer, Willem Renema, Wouter van Steenis, Theo Zeegers, Aat Barendregt, John T. Smit, Mark P. van Veen, Jeroen van Steenis, Laurens van der Leij: De Nederlandse Zweefvliegen (Diptera: Syrphidae), Nederlandse Fauna 8, 2009.