Bee-flies

Lord Vetinari

Managed to get a bit closer to some bee-flies yesterday Bombylius major. About 10-12mm body length not including nose. First 3 shots are a male that rested every now and then when the wind got too strong for it's territorial hovering. First shot is an accidental fill flash one. Last shot is a female.

Mix of MPE-65 and sigma 105 shots.

Brian V.

teamracephotos

Wow Strange Bee
I have never seen a Bee like that before. Do they sting? MM

DonRicklin

I think you have it backwards. Though Lord V will be around to set things straight, I'm sure.

It is a Fly that looks somewhat like a Bee. Thus the name.

Don

JetCrocodile

Fluffy and dangerous!

Last one is my favorite!

canon400d

JetCrocodile wrote:

Fluffy and dangerous!

Last one is my favorite!

Excellent shots Brian. I certainly haven't seen that type of bee before.
Regards
Bob

DonRicklin

Bee Fly - It's a Fly!
From the Wikipedia:

Bombyliidae is a large family of flies with hundreds of genera, although their life cycles are not well known. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, thus are pollinators of flowers. They superficially resemble bees, thus are commonly called bee flies, and this may offer the adults some protection from predators.

The larval stages are predators or parasitoids of other insect eggs and larvae. The adult females usually deposit eggs in the vicinity of possible hosts, quite often in the burrows of beetles or wasps/solitary bees. Where most often in the insect world parasitoids are highly specific in the host species that they will infect, some bombyliids are opportunistic and will use a variety of hosts.

While bombyliids have a great variety of species, rarely are individuals of any one species abundant, and this is perhaps one of the poorest known families of insects relative to its size. There are at least 4,500 described species, and probably thousands as of yet undescribed. is a large family of flies with hundreds of genera, although their life cycles are not well known. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, thus are pollinators of flowers. They superficially resemble bees, thus are commonly called bee flies, and this may offer the adults some protection from predators.

The larval stages are predators or parasitoids of other insect eggs and larvae. The adult females usually deposit eggs in the vicinity of possible hosts, quite often in the burrows of beetles or wasps/solitary bees. Where most often in the insect world parasitoids are highly specific in the host species that they will infect, some bombyliids are opportunistic and will use a variety of hosts.

While bombyliids have a great variety of species, rarely are individuals of any one species abundant, and this is perhaps one of the poorest known families of insects relative to its size. There are at least 4,500 described species, and probably thousands as of yet undescribed.

Lord Vetinari

Thanks for the comments - definitely a fly and not a bee and not dangerous at all, but must admit I do tend to duck if one flies towards me . The tongue is twice as long as the proboscis you can see enabling them to get nectar often like hummingbirds.

Brian V.

Robinivich

I've got only one so-so shot of another bee fly I chased around for a good half hour, these guys really don't like sitting still!! They also reacted to me much more than most pollinators! Makes your shots all that much more impressive Brian!

BigAl

Very nice Brian - glad to see the Sigma 105 is still getting a workout

Skippy

Lord Vetinari wrote:

Managed to get a bit closer to some bee-flies yesterday Bombylius major. About 10-12mm body length not including nose. First 3 shots are a male that rested every now and then when the wind got too strong for it's territorial hovering. First shot is an accidental fill flash one. Last shot is a female.

Mix of MPE-65 and sigma 105 shots.

Brian V.

This guy looks like he is ready for a sword fight
Interesting that only half the wings are transparent...wonder why that is?
Thats quite a front end ornament I must say
Nice find there Brian .... Skippy
.

tlee

Never seen a Bee-fly before. Enjoyed the images--wonderful, as always.

ColMofed

Can't say I've ever seen one of these before.

Inspiring.

Rod.