Tiger Bee Fly
Xenox tigrinus · Flies
Tiger Bee Fly on persicaria
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 26 July 2026
A Tiger Bee Fly on persicaria in the July border, wings spread flat and patterned almost like stained glass. It is a large bee fly of the eastern United States, and it is found near old wood and fence rails for a reason: the larvae develop as parasitoids in the nests of carpenter bees, in the tunnels the bees bore in dead timber.
The black body with its white flecks and the dark, mottled wings are distinctive enough that this is one of the few bee flies that can be named from a photograph. A flower bed full of bees and bee flies is a good deal more adversarial than it looks.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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