What is it?

[Bundle 2]

I reckon its a bee....Hairy and stingless which is okay by me given the aggressive look this badboy carries around with him but not one I have ever seen before. Any info?

[Charlieh]

i think from memory its a type of solitary bee, normally found on sunny sloping banks, harmless as well

 

EDIT: my bad it is a bee fly Bombylius major

 

Bombylius major

Edited April 16, 2010 by Charlieh

[Bundle 2]

Interesting. Any scientific links atall? I found it dead and clinging to the white door handle of the white conservatory at home. Home is in the city of Norwich. Not a typical habitat from what you indicate Charlieh!

 

Edit..cheers mate, just clocked your edit....

[nepia]

Sneaky little blighters...

 

The large bee fly, Bombylius major, is a bee mimic. The eggs are flicked by the adult female toward the entrance of the underground nests of solitary bees and wasps. After hatching, the larvae find their way into the nests to feed on the grubs.

 

From Wiki.

[Bundle 2]

"....Sneaky little blighters......."

 

Mmmm...all brown and fury but decidedly not cute. A parasite infact!

 

Bee Fly - Bombylius major, species information page

[Charlieh]

used to see no end at my parents old house in cambs on the grassy banks, where the solitary mining bees were nesting,

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

:001_cool:Good thread!

[Henk]

Its a Syrphid - a kind of fly (A bee has got two pairs of wings, your specimen has one pair) - this one is a bee mimic. Lots of Syrphids or hover flies mimic hymenoptera (wasps and bees). Excellent photo by the way.

[Steve Bullman]

missus just saw one of these in the garden, she came in and described it to me so i pulled up this thread to confirm it was what she saw

[Stephen Blair]

great find, i have never heard of that before. nice one