Species Focus - Dark-edged Bee-fly (Bombylius major)

Now is the perfect time to go looking for Bee-flies. These charismatic insects are about the size of a small bumble-bee and hover low to the ground. A good place to look for them is on a sunny bank with primroses in flower, often in gardens. They fly quickly but hover over flowers while sipping nectar with their amazingly elongated mouth parts.

Bombylius major is the species you are most likely to see in North Wales and can be readily identified by looking for the dark front edge to the wing (they do occasionally sit on the ground to bask, so you can see this feature).

Bee-flies have an extremely interesting lifestyle. The females coat their eggs in dirt and flick them into the nests of solitary bees. The fly’s larva then hatches and eventually eats the developing bee grub!

More information on this species and other rare bee-flies can be found here. There are relatively few records of this species in North Wales, particularly on Anglesey. Please look out for this fly and send in your records to Cofnod using either the ORS (Online Recording System) or the LERC Wales Mobile App.