Europe and temperate Asia
Fine-art photographic collection
Volucella pellucens
A harmless wasp mimic whose larvae grow inside the rubbish chamber of a live social-wasp nest.
About this species
Volucella pellucens(Linnaeus, 1758)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Volucella pellucens is a large black hoverfly with a translucent pale abdominal band. Adults visit flowers, but the larvae develop as scavengers inside nests of Vespula wasps.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Diptera · Syrphidae · Volucella
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Europe and temperate AsiaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Woodland rides, hedgerows, parks and gardens near underground wasp nests.
Diurnal, with adults hovering around flowers and woodland clearings in summer.
Adults take nectar and pollen; larvae consume nest debris, dead insects and discarded food in wasp nests.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
The adult resembles a large black-and-white social wasp, but has only one pair of wings and cannot sting.
A female enters an active Vespula nest to lay eggs, crossing a defended entrance patrolled by workers that would attack most intruders.
The larvae live in the debris chamber beneath the combs, consuming dead wasps, discarded prey and dropped food as the colony operates above them.
More photographs
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