The Large Bee Fly is a charming, fuzzy, bee-mimicking fly with a stiff, forward-pointing proboscis longer than its head and fluffy brown-yellow body hair. It hovers over spring flowers with precision, inserting its long proboscis to sip nectar while hovering. Females flick eggs at the entrances of solitary bee burrows; larvae develop as parasitoids of the bee's young.
Habitat
Gardens, forest edges, and sunny spring wildflower patches
Diet
Larvae: parasitoids of solitary bee larvae. Adults: nectar
How common
Common
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