Greater Bee Fly

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 It looks like a bumblebee but its actually a parasitic fly with a long proboscis.



There were about a half dozen of these insects hovering about the flowers in the warm sunshine yesterday afternoon. I don't remember noticing these before but a friend posted a picture of some recently (thanks Howard!) and this must have caused me to pay attention. These flies look like bumblebees. However, they have one set of wings (bumblebees have two) and they have a triangular (rather than a barrel shaped) body. The flies have a long proboscis and at first I was reminded of hummingbird moths.
Bee flies are parasitic on solitary bees. The females introduce their eggs into the entrances of the holes in the ground  where the bees nest. Its actually a bit more complicated than that as the flies drop their eggs from a height and in order to give their eggs a bit of weight to stop them blowing away they coat the eggs with dust and soil first. Most of the eggs from this bombing raid miss the target but some find the larvae of the bees and use them for nourishment whilst they grow to adulthood in the host nest.
Bee flies are important pollinators and have a characteristic hovering flight with frequent yawing (pivoting in flight about a fixed point). The animals stay in flight whilst they suck nectar with their long proboscis and a consequently a bit of a challenge to photograph.

Diary.
A gardener about a mile up the road at Stobars reported finding a hibernating hedgehog in a pile of leaves yesterday. We very rarely see them at our house but I know that people in Kirkby Stephen often see them in their gardens.
We witnessed another sparrow hawk strike yesterday (unsuccessful).  I am always surprised by how long the bird keeps up the chase flying in tight circles around the trees.
There were three roe deer in the bog meadow this morning when I went to collect my camera traps. I am posting the best video clip below. Temperatures last night got down to minus 7C but it is warmer in the sunshine during the day at around 15C.
I attempted to get an audio clip of the dawn chorus this morning. It doesn't last long - about 15 mins  either side of sunrise but in my sleepy state I made a mess of the recording.  I will try again tomorrow.


 


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