Thursday, 2 May 2013

Beefly (Bombylius major)


Beefly (Bombylius major), originally uploaded by Pipsissiwa.

Very excited today! I've been taking spring photos for a week or so now, but there has been very little worth blogging about. However today the garden had a visitor that I have always wanted to see - a beefly!

 

These insects look like mini (1cm ish) ginger pompoms with dark-edged wings and a long nose. They can appear fearsome but are completely harmless - the proboscis is solely for probing deep into flowers to drink nectar - the fly does not bite or sting,


They fly around low looking for ground dwelling bee nests in which to lay their eggs.

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