Belzebul Bee Eater attempting to mate

danielj

July 13th, 2008 at 12:00 am

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Identification please
Hi,
I found 6 or 7 of these ‘bug’s flying around our yard in South Texas ( 20 miles South of San Antonio ) I think they are a Mydas fly but my Wife thinks they are some kind of bee please identify. We think they were attempting to mate. A humming bird flew by and was dwarfed by the size of these ‘ bugs’ . The images attached are compressed if needed I can send full size files. Weather 85 degrees, South east wind approx 5 Mph. Time 10:09 AM. Many thanks in advance
Nigel & Veronica Hutchings

mallophora robber nigel Belzebul Bee Eater attempting to mate mallophora flies nigel Belzebul Bee Eater attempting to mate

Hi Nigel and Veronica,
Thank you so much for including the wind speed and direction. We don’t know what to do with that information, but we are tremendously amused because of the number of requests we receive where “my back yard” constitutes a location. These are Robber Flies, more specifically, Bee Killers in the genus Mallophora. There are five representatives of the genus posted on BugGuide, and your specimen appears to be Mallophora leschenaulti. All the individuals on BugGuide of Mallophora leschenaulti, which was given the common name Belzebul Bee Eater, hailed from Texas and the species is also reported from Mexico. We wonder, perhaps, if Belzebul is a misspelling of Beelzebub or Beelzebul. The outstretched forelegs on the suitor reminds us a bit of Harpo Marx chasing the girls in his signature comedy routine. Your photos are awesome.

mallophora 2 flies nigel Belzebul Bee Eater attempting to mate