Large Bee-fly Bombylius major
Bee-flies are extraordinary creatures. They are flies, but do look like some vague kind of bee: brown and extremely hairy. They have a very long probiscus (let's say tongue), just like many bumblebees have. And they have extremely slender and long legs. The animal in the picture actually uses his long snout to get to the bottom of the flower. But this flower is so deep, it has to sit down in order to reach the nectar. But with less deep flowers these animals just hover in front of the flower, the same way hummingbirds do. Their wings move up and down some 300 times in just one minute!
The large bee-fly is 14 to 18 mm in length. The hairs are light brown and the wings are partially black, which is just visible in the picture. Adults feed on nectar and -sometimes- pollen. Adults Large Bee-flies are only active when the temperature is right: above 17 Celcius.
The larvae are parasites to various solitary wasps and bees, especially Mining Bees (Andrena sp.). The females just flick their eggs into a hosts' nest. After hatching the fresh larva looks for a cell, where it waits for the host larva to hatch and get full grown. Then it attaches itself to the larva and sucks it dry. It will also eat the food the mother wasp or bee provided her larva with. Then it pupates. Pupation may take a long time, sometimes even two whole years.
The Large Bee-fly is widespread and may be found all over the world, except for Australasia. In Britain it is common in England and Wales, but quite rare in Southern Scotland, while not being present in Central and Northern Scotland.
The Large Bee-fly is also known as the Greater Bee-fly or simply the Bee-fly.
