Bee fly
Bombyliidae
Bee fly · Arverne Preserve · 20 June 2026
A bee fly hovering at a flower in the dune scrub at Arverne, which is where you find them: sunny, sandy ground where solitary bees nest, because the bee flies need the bees.
Bee flies mimic bees closely enough to visit the same flowers unmolested, and most species also lay their eggs near the burrows of solitary bees so their larvae can parasitise the brood inside - a double use of the disguise. The long, fixed proboscis projecting forward, used for feeding without landing, is the giveaway that this is a fly and not a bee; which of the many look-alike species is not something a photograph settles.
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