Bombylius major (large bee fly)
Bombylius major © Michael Apel
The large bee fly is a bee mimic - it resembles a small bumble bee.
The adult flies are striking and have a hairy body with long hairy legs and a characteristically long, slender tongue which they use for nectar retrieval whilst hovering beside a flower head.
Bombylius major larvae parasitize beetle larvae as well as the brood of solitary wasps and bees - another reason for its name.
The female has been seen to flick her eggs mid-air into the ground bees’ and wasps’ nests.
Species detail
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Taxonomy
Bombylius major was first named by Linnaeus in 1758, but has since been incorrectly identified as many other things. Discover some of its alternative names.
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Distribution
Bombylius major can be found in most parts of the world, apart from Australasia. It has one major requirement: its host - bee and beetle larvae. Find out where you can find this fly in the UK.
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Biology
The large bee fly parasitises the larvae of wasps, beetles and bees. Discover how the adult fly ensures its offspring finds a suitable host, and what happens next.
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Behaviour
Find out how bee-flies feed and what they do to keep warm.
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References
Get reference material for Bombylius major.
Images
Bombylius major.
© Richard Bartz, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license
Bombylius major.
© Richard Bartz, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license
Bombylius major.
© kde-look.org, GNU General Public License
Bombylius major.
© Richard Bartz, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license
Bombylius major.
© Richard Bartz, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic licenseAbout the author
A word from the author
"This fly not only looks good, but has a fantastic life cycle - not many creatures go through 2 different larval stages, eat their hosts alive and then emerge to become vegetarians! This species was described to the Angela Marmot Centre for UK Biodiversity as a very small flying narwhal!"
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