Grey fuzzy fly or bee
July 13, 2009
Saw this fella in the Okanagan, B.C. It didn’t seem to make any noise and wasn’t worried about me at all. I’ve never seen anything like it, I’m very curious if you can id it for me.
Donna Dean
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Dear Donna,
This is a Bee Fly in the family Bombyliidae, Subfamily Bombyliinae and Tribe Bombyliini, but we are uncertain of the genus or species. BugGuide has several possibilities. There is a photo posted of Bolbylius incanus from Maryland that looks similar. There is a photo of a mating pair from Washington that looks similar, and there are three photos of Anastoechus barbatus from Wisconsin that look very similar. If you are satisfied with just general identification, we can tell you that Bee Flies feed on nectar as adults, and as larvae they feed in immature beetles, bees, wasps, butterflies, moths or the eggs of grasshoppers depending upon the species, according to BugGuide.
I found that the species is Bombylius incanus. I found another species that looks almost identical and is called Systoechus. They are not bees, but flies and just look like flies.