| Adult bee flies become active about the third week of April here in the American midwest. They are extremely agile and quick fliers, very wary and difficult to approach. They rarely actually alight on a flower, preferring instead to hover just above, while lowering their proboscis for nectar. I think this behavior is defense against spiders or other predators that may be lying in wait. The larval stages live as parasites in the nests of solitary bees (e.g., Andrena, Halictus and Colletes species), where they eat the food stores and grubs of their host. |
Female Bee Fly takes nectar at Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta |
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