Today I was photographing some tulips in Peterborough when a bee-fly, probably Bombylius major, came to nectar on the flowers. I managed to get some pictures. (Note: Bee-flies are amazing creatures. Although they are actually flies (i.e. only have two wings) they have evolved to mimic bees. This allows them to get close to the bees’ nests where they “flick” their eggs onto or near the bee larvae. The eggs then hatch and the grubs parasitize the developing bees. Sometimes the eggs are just left on flowers where the bees pick them up inadvertently and end up carrying them back to the nest – D. Monkman)
Observer: Margo Hughes
Large Bee-fly – by Margo Hughes
