what’s this pollinator?
July 23, 2009
I was walking in downtown Nashville Indiana a couple of weeks ago (7/10/09) and saw this critter. I’d never seen one before and, being interested in all sorts of pollinating insects, decided to take a snapshot. Later I saw a few more and so I asked my aunt, a gardener, if she knew. She didn’t, in fact, she’d never noticed one either. So what is it?
McKenzie
Brown County, IN
Hi McKenzie,
High quality images like your photograph of a Scaly Bee Fly, Lepidophora lepidocera, are a tremendous contribution to our website. BugGuide indicates: “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.“