Skip to content
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Southern Bee Killer

Posted by bugman July 15th, 2007 at 12:00 am

Categories

Uncategorized

Tags

bumblebee killing honeybee? queen mating with drone?
I can see that this is obviously a bumblebee (don’t know which species); but I’m surprised to see it firmly attached to what appears to be a honeybee (or a drone?). I’ve sent two different views. Do you have any idea what’s going on here? Thanks for any time you can spare to help me out.
Diane
Chuluota, FL (Central Fl)

Hi Diane,
This is not a Bumblebee. It is a Robber Fly known as a Southern Bee Killer, Mallophora orcina. According to BugGuide it is a: “Large, fuzzy, bee-mimicking robber flies. Resemble Laphria , another genus of robbers that mimic bumblebees, but is even hairier and has antennae with a very thin terminal final segment, whereas Laphria has thick antennae. “

Related Posts

  1. Bee Killer eating Red Wasp (August 16, 2007)
  2. Bee-Like Robber Fly (March 11, 2008)
  3. Southern Bee Killer (June 16, 2009)
  4. Bee-Like Robber Fly eats Japanese Beetle (July 30, 2009)
  5. Probably Southern Bee Killer (August 20, 2009)

Post a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.