#bee fly

[bedupolker]

Reposting some illustrations I did for NPS's pollinator week a couple years a go. You can read about these critters here!

[parkarts]

Saw plenty of my favorite dipteran family today, bee flies! They mimic bumblebees, but are actually flies. This one is Bombylius major, an important nest parasite of solitary Andrena bees. They help control other insect populations, but are also crucial pollinators for native wildflowers.

[herpsandbirds]

Bee Fly (Bombylius fulvescens), EAT A TASTY NECTAR!!!, family Bombyliidae, Slovakia

photograph by Jan Zavřel

[michaelnordeman]

Bombylius medius/prickvingad svävfluga. Värmland, Sweden (1 May 2019).

[etcstims]

Dotted bee fly takeoff | source

[nimbugs]

The Humpbacked Bee Fly! Geron!!! This is one of the smallest bee flies (Bombyllidae) I've ever seen!! Such a nice little guy!! Look at that fluff!

Taken in Ricaurte, Cundinamarca, Colombia

[dailybugfacts]

What is a bug With wings like a housefly, fuzzy + stripes of a honeybee, and long probiscus of a butterfly? Please it was so cute

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TODAY'S FACT IS

Did you know that Bombylius Mexicanus is a species of bee fly? Despite their name, they are commonly found throughout most of North America (and not just Mexico), from the east coast to west, and southern Mexico and up into Canada. Like other bee flies, they are flies that, well, look like bees. They're very good at pollinating and drinking from deep flowers with its long proboscis.

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Photo by Claude Nozères

[ketrinadrawsalot]

Professor Kukui must have left this detail out of the Pokedex entry.