Bug of the Week #006 - Ferruginous Bee-Grabber (Sicus ferrugineus)
Family: Thick-Headed Fly Family (Conopidae)
IUCN Conservation Status: Unassessed
Small flies with distinctive spiral-shaped abdomens, female Ferruginous Bee-Grabbers earn their species its name owing to their very odd egg-laying habits; members of this species tackle and cling on to bumblebees and some large mining bees in mid-air, using their flexible abdomens to attach sticky eggs to their abdomens. After hatching the larvae bore into the bee their mother attached them to and slowly eat them alive, overwintering inside their body and emerging the following year as a mature adult. A common but often overlooked fly found throughout much of Europe, adult Ferruginous Bee-Grabbers feed on nectar and are most common in sheltered, vegetated habitats such as hedgerows and grasslands.
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