WTB
Location: Termeil NSW 2539
February 5, 2012 5:15 am
Hi again…this fly ?..has been hanging around,looking at me,pointed at me,shows great interest,will let me get 4ft away..hovers then darts off,comes back hovers,from 2 to 6ft off the ground,pointing toward me..,I think it lives near where I chop firewood under a large Blue Gum..seen it there twice,might get a video tomorrow.Sun shining today.Thanks.
Signature: Bugger
Bee Fly
Dear Bugger,
This is a True Bee Fly in the subfamily Bombyliinae and we found a matching image of a resting individual on the Brisbane Insect website, though it is not identified by species. The proboscis on your specimen is definitely a match to the mouth on the image we located.
Bee Fly
Fly
Location: Denton, Tx
November 7, 2011 9:16 pm
What type of fly is this?
Signature: Anthony K.
Bee Fly
Dear Anthony,
This is a Bee Fly in the family Bombyliidae, a group of pollinating insects. We believe we have correctly identified your individual as a member of the genus Geron based on this image from BugGuide.
¶ Posted 26 December 2011 § ‡ ° Flying insect
Location: Central Western Oklahoma
October 4, 2011 11:22 pm
I got swarmed by these when wearing a yellow/green safety vest, but they left me alone after I took it off. I doubt they can even bite, but I didn’t like them swarming me. The subject of the first two pictures tried landing in my ear; I stunned him when I swatted him away and thus the pictures. The one in the white background sat still enough for me to photogragh him. They’re just larger than houseflies and have many of the same attributes (flying patterns, iridescent wings, compound eyes, etc.) Any thoughts? I’ve not seen them before.
Signature: Carson in Oklahoma
Bee Fly
Dear Carson,
We are positively fascinated that you were swarmed by Bee Flies, while wearing one of those acid green safety vests. There must be some light reflectance of the vest that is similar to certain blossoms that the Bee Flies feed upon. Bee Flies are harmless. Many flowers are yellow. Here is a Bee Fly on BugGuide that is attracted to a yellow flower. We are not sure of your species, but you may search BugGuide for that identification.
¶ Posted 05 October 2011 § ‡ ° Moth?
Location: Griffith Park, Los Angeles, CA
September 28, 2011 1:01 am
Dear Bugman,
I was at Griffith Park in Los Angeles with my son when we spotted this winged insect. In person, the bug looked like a moth with very sharp, jagged wings. In the picture the wings appear much more translucent and less jagged than they did in person. Please help identify.
Thank you!!
Signature: Curious Bug Mama
Bee Fly: Xenox habrosus
Dear Curious Bug Mama,
At first we thought this might be a Tiger Bee Fly, Xenox tigrinus, but we learned on BugGuide that the Tiger Bee Fly is an eastern species. We believe this is its western relative, Xenox habrosus, which is represented on BugGuide with Los Angeles area postings. Daniel is doing a talk on October 15 at 2 PM at the Lummis Home along the historic Arroyo Parkway (Pasadena Freeway) to benefit the gardens. The talk is on beneficial bugs and is entitled Butterflies, Bees and Things That Go Bump In The Night. Since this talk is about local species, you photo, which is of excellent quality, will probably be included in the powerpoint presentation.
1
¶ Posted 28 September 2011 § ‡ ° Danger???
Location: 25km N/W Toronto, Ont., Canada
September 22, 2011 2:12 pm
I think maybe Mosquitoes are a little more advanced than we think and have developed a prototype of the ultimate Mosquito warrior in preparation for a D-Day attack on us helpless humans!!!
The strips on the tarp are 1/8th inch so this thing is just less than 1 inch long and stands about as tall. That’s likely about 100 times the size of your everyday non warrior killing machine mosquito.
Seen on a hiking trail Aug 13/2011, about 25km north/west of Toronto, Ontario. There have been no known attacks yet. Get ready….!!!
Signature: Dan
Scaly Bee Fly
Hi Dan,
While it might look like a mosquito on steroids, looks can often be deceptive in the insect world, and this Scaly Bee Fly, Lepidophora lepidocera, is perfectly harmless. According to BugGuide: “Adults are seen on flowers, presumably taking nectar. Insects of Cedar Creek reports they like to visit a Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum). Another reference from Minnesota lists Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) as a nectar source. Seen on goldenrod (Solidago spp.) and Bushy Aster (Symphyotrichum dumosum) in the Piedmont of North Carolina” BugGuide also notes: “Larvae of Lepidophora are parasites of solitary wasps (Vespidae and Sphecidae).”
1
¶ Posted 23 September 2011 § ‡ ° Fly on Little Ladies Tresses
Location: Sayville, NY
August 25, 2011 9:02 am
Greetings,
I located a small stand of Spiranthes tuberosa in Sayville, New York. I noticed this beautiful little fly sucking nectar from the the orchids. The fly didn’t seem to favor any of the other flowering plants in the area. What is this fly? There were several of these flys on the orhids. Thanks!
Signature: Derek
Bee Fly
Hi Derek,
We recognized this individual as a Bee Fly in the family Bombyliidae, but we did not recognize the species. We quickly browsed through the possibilities and identified it as Peocilognathus unmaculatus on BugGuide.
Bee Fly
1
¶ Posted 27 August 2011 § ‡ ° Tiger Bee Fly photos
Location: Los Angeles, California
August 23, 2011 4:12 am
I was able to identify this Tiger Bee Fly, thanks to this site! I thought you might like these photos I took yesterday. I had never seen one of these before, so I was very curious. This guy landed nearby on a white shirt I had hung up to dry. I think he stands out nicely against this background.
Signature: Adam Shipman
Tiger Bee Fly relative
Hi Adam,
We are happy to hear you were able to use our website to identify your Tiger Bee Fly, Xenox tigrinus, but we would advise you, and anyone else, to be sure to check our site against other resources since we are not infallible. BugGuide is always an excellent place to identify North American species from Canada and the United States. BugGuidelists the identifying features as “A large Bee Fly with a distinctive wing pattern. Note the large, wrap-around eyes.” We have observed that there is some degree of variability in the pattern on the wings between individuals. Since you indicated that the fly landed on a white shirt, we adjusted the levels in the corresponding RGB histograms to whiten the fabric.
Tiger Bee Fly relative
Ed. Note: We just received a comment correcting our identification and we agree that this is Xenox habrosus.
¶ Posted 23 August 2011 § ‡ ° flylike on butterfly bush
Location: new jersey
August 12, 2011 4:12 pm
can you please id ?
Signature: susan
Bee Fly
Hi Susan,
This is a Bee Fly, and it appears to be a match for the Exoprosopa fasciata group, however, we cannot find an exact match for the body coloration, though the wing veinage seems to be an exact match. See BugGuide for the many variations in this group that is characterized by “the wing color along the leading edge.”
¶ Posted 12 August 2011 § ‡ ° 
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