Dark-edged Bee-fly

The Dark-edged Bee-fly is a bee mimic which is often mistaken for a bumblebee.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Bombylius major
Family: 
Bee flies
Family Latin name: 
BOMBYLIIDAE
Category: 
Insects other

Species description

Species description

The Dark-edged bee-fly (also known as the Greater bee-fly) is a bee mimic which is often mistaken for a bumblebee. However, its long, needle-like proboscis gives the game away, as bumblebees don't possess such equipment. Despite the alarming length of the proboscis, it is harmless, using it to drink nectar rather than impale victims!

The flight of this bee-fly is speedy. It loiters only fleetingly.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)

Details

Species family information

Bee flies are flies that resemble bees. This mimicry confers upon them some protection. Their larvae are predatory or parasitical

Category information

Insects evolved in the Ordovician from a crustacean ancestral lineage as terrestrial invertebrates with six legs (the Hexapoda). This was the time when terrestrial plants first appeared. In the Devonian some insects developed wings and flight, the first animals to do so. An early flying group was the Odonata from the Carboniferous, the damselflies and dragonflies, which have densely-veined wings and long, ten-segmented bodies. They are day-flying carnivores, with an aquatic larval stage, so are commonly seen flying near water. The carnivorous larvae are called nymphs. Odonata species are short-lived, damselflies surviving for 2-4 weeks, dragonflies for up to 2 months.

Some insect groups in the Cretaceous co-evolved with the flowering plants, and they have had a close association ever since. These groups are the Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants), the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), the Diptera (flies), and the Coleoptera (beetles). The diversity of beetles is astonishing. Of all the known animal species on the planet, one in five is a beetle!