Bombylius major, male specimen

Bee flies are stout-bodied flying insects said to resemble long-legged bumble bees. Imho, there are Syrphid flies and robber flies that do a much better job of impersonating bumble bees. Many bee flies have elongated mouthparts that form a conspicuous proboscis, used for sucking nectar long-distance while hovering over flowers. Many bee flies prefer to hover in midair while doing their nectaring, undoubtedly to avoid capture by those insects lurking about flower blooms, looking for an easy meal, such as the ambush bugs and the crab spiders.

I most often see bee flies hovering around flowers, or if resting, usually on the ground, on bare soil. They are extremely wary and difficult to approach. No doubt their large compound eyes give them good vision, plus they have that air-motion sensing mechanism that helps the ordinary house fly avoid the swatter. Adult bee flies drink nectar, but the larvae are parasites of beetle larvae as well as the brood of solitary wasps and bees, the hole or burrow-nesting insects. I've heard tales of female bee flies hovering over a hole in the ground, flicking her eggs into the hole. I've often seen female Bombylius sitting in very loose soil, vibrating her butt like mad, so that the dirt is actually thrown outwards.

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