Regarding the caption that appeared next to the photo by Angelo Lynn (Addison Independent, Oct. 17, Page 6B): The title “Camouflage at work” is correct but the caption information (“Can you find both bees?…”) is not. There is only one bee in the photo. The insect in the lower portion of the photo is a type of fly that has evolved colorations that mimic a bee in order to help deter would be predators.

There are a number of things that give away that this is not a bee. All flies have two wings instead of four (two pair) like a bee. The bee’s waist (the place where the abdomen and thorax meet) is narrower. Also to the untrained eye, the coloration here is similar but not really a bees coloration.

There are other differences as well but they are not evident from the photo such as a bee’s antennae is longer, the eyes are smaller and the mouth parts different.

Ross Conrad

Dancing Bee Gardens

Middlebury