Subject:  Bee Fly?
Geographic location of the bug:  Casa Grande, AZ
Date: 10/25/2021
Time: 01:48 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I found this little bug on the screen outside my indoor plants. Between 1 to 1.5 cm. in size. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I’ve looked through all kinds of sites, but little true info is out online. I can’t identify any that look quite like this.
Please help?
How you want your letter signed:  Chris in Casa Grande

Bee Fly

Update:  I just sent photos of a little bee fly id been unable to identify. Looked through this site as well as BugGuide.net. Just after sending my request, I believe I found it – gray bee fly – Anastoechus melanohalteralis. Sorry for the unneeded request. Still love this site!

Dear Chris,
This is indeed a Bee Fly in the family Bombyliidae.  We are uncertain of the exact species.

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Subject:  Tiger Bee Fly
Geographic location of the bug:  Campbell, Ohio
Date: 08/02/2021
Time: 11:31 PM EDT
Gentle Readers,
When Daniel first arrived in Ohio two weeks ago and he began working in the garden, he encountered a massive Tiger Bee Fly in the garage buzzing around the window.  Daniel tried to rescue it because of the large web building spider (OK he will figure out what they are before he leaved Ohio in two more weeks)  with the sheet web that will run out from its lair if anything falls into its dusty web.  Daniel eventually caught the Tiger Bee Fly in his hands and released it.  When he saw one later in the day, he liked fantasizing that it was the same individual he rescued. 

Tiger Bee Fly

The Tiger Bee Fly likes sunning on the south facing bricks and this morning it allowed Daniel to get really close to just watch it as it basked in the sun on the wreath on the front door.

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Subject:  Large Fly?
Geographic location of the bug:  Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA
Date: 07/19/2021
Time: 02:56 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  This fly(?) has been flying around my deck.  He is about 1″ long.  He seems to like sitting on this light colored umbrella, but he does land on darker surfaces.
How you want your letter signed :  NancyA

Tiger Bee Fly

Dear NancyA,
This impressive fly is a Tiger Bee Fly, a parasitoid that preys on Carpenter Bees.  According to the Missouri Department of Conservation:  “The female tiger bee fly deposits her eggs in places where carpenter bees have laid their eggs. The bee fly larvae eat the carpenter bee larvae.”

Thanks!  I thought I had not successfully submitted that email and photo, but
I guess I had!  I figured it out from a combination of searching the
WhatsThatBug web site and an Internet search and I was astounded to find out
what it is.  I definitely have carpenter bees.  In fact, one is giving me
trouble in the very table that the umbrella is stuck in that the fly was
sitting on when I took the photo!
Nancy Anthracite

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Subject:  Fly? Bee?
Geographic location of the bug:  North Hollywood, CA
Date: 07/17/2021
Time: 06:02 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman :  This was on a tomato plant, is it a pest?
How you want your letter signed:  Larry

Bee Fly

Dear Larry,
This is a Fly that mimics a Bee, and it is commonly called a Bee Fly in the family Bombyliidae.  We do not recognize the species, but there are some similar looking individuals on the Natural History of Orange County website.

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Subject:  Maybe a new bug specie
Geographic location of the bug:  Montreal, Cote-des-Neiges Minto appartments,Quebec,Canada
Date: 04/13/2021
Time: 03:23 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I may have found a new bug, I search images of it but found none, i am still 11 years old i found it away from grass, It seemed to move, It had a long black nose like a needle, 2 front legs and 2 back legs they were skinny I don’t know if he had 4 or 6 legs, it ha black and clear wings, it was very small and was fuzzy, it was all yellow/beige but in its back it was a black circle, it did no harm and when we touched it ,it moved but didn’t fly away.I found it with my little sister.
How you want your letter signed:  Lilya (the future scientist)

Bee Fly

Dear Lilya (the future scientist),
First let me congratulate you on knowing that you want to be a scientist at such a young age.  This is actually a Bee Fly in the family Bombyliidae, most likely the Greater Bee Fly, Bombylius major, which is pictured on BugGuide.  According to BugGuide:  “A common and widespread bee fly, often seen taking nectar on early spring wildflowers or seen hovering in sunny patches in woodlands.”

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Subject:  Tiger Bee Fly
Geographic location of the bug:  BuTyler Pennsylvania  (Butler???)
Date: 08/24/2019
Time: 08:58 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Is it normal to see a tiger bee fly in north western pennsylvania?  I have never seen one before
How you want your letter signed:  Rob Och

Tiger Bee Fly

Dear Rob,
We suspect your sighting was in Butler, Pennsylvania, not BuTyler.  According to BugGuide data, the Tiger Bee Fly ranges over most of eastern North America, including BuTyler, Pennsylvania.

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