Mar 292014
It’s a moth…. It’s a bee…. It’s a fly….
I have to admit that, as flies go, the black-tailed bee fly (Bombylius major) is quite attractive — a hedgehog with wings. Admittedly, one has to get past its rather long and pointy proboscis. But that is a tool for sipping nectar, not causing harm. The flies hover like hummingbirds over flowers, their beating wings generating a high-pitched whining sound. Bee fly larvae parasitize the larvae of solitary bees and consume their food stores. The adult bee flies supposedly emerge from their underground bee burrows in early summer; this particular one seems to be a couple of months early.
