fly or bee?

[Stuart Fullerton]

Gentle folks:

i am confused.  in the august 2005 issue of the national geographic
magazine, on page 90 (an un numbered fold out page) there is a picture
of a fossil critter.   the caption directly on the critter says it is
Florinemestrius pulcherrimus. To me it sure looks like a fly - diptera.
but the paragraph in which the picture is placed refers to it as a bee -
hymenoptera  and goes on about bees feeding techniques and role in
pollinating  flowers.  would someone please take a look and tell me if
this is a bee or a fly.     having grown up on national geographic i
tend to like to think they do not make mistakes. but in years recent,
especially with fossil stuff, they seem to be having problems.  am i
right or am i wrong.  i think it is a fly.

cheers!  rof
--

Stuart M Fullerton ROF, Research Associate in charge of Arthropod

Collections (UCFC), Dept. of Biology, University of Central Florida, PO

Box 162368, Orlando, Florida, 32816-2368, USA. stuartf at pegasus.cc.ucf.edu <mailto:stuartf at pegasus.cc.ucf.edu>

(407) 823-6540 (no voice mail) <http://www.cas.ucf.edu/biology/bugs/>