A baby bee???? looks fury

there is a pic similar on google its called a bee fly, but thats in America so don't know if its same thing. Its a new one on me!!

ask the Bumble bee conservation trust or check out their site online
http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk/
Contact us

Bumblebee Conservation Trust
School of Biological & Environmental Sciences
University of Stirling
Stirling
FK9 4LA
United Kingdom

No phone number? As a small team we find that it's generally more efficient to answer enquiries by email. However, if you'd prefer to speak to someone then send us an email and ask - we'll happily give you a ring at your convenience.

looks like a bee fly to me to, think toto recently posted a pic of one,, nope not toto but another member and i cant remember who,

Stroller put a blog with GW mag. pics on after I asked about red-tailed bees. Blog was called BEES ... lol

Bombyliidae is a large family of flies with hundreds of genera, although their life cycles are not well known. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, thus are pollinators of flowers. They superficially resemble bees, thus are commonly called bee flies, and this may offer the adults some protection from predators.

The larval stages are predators or parasitoids of other insect eggs and larvae. The adult females usually deposit eggs in the vicinity of possible hosts, quite often in the burrows of beetles or wasps/solitary bees. Where most often in the insect world parasitoids are highly specific in the host species that they will infect, some bombyliids are opportunistic and will use a variety of hosts.

While bombyliids have a great variety of species, rarely are individuals of any one species abundant, and this is perhaps one of the poorest known families of insects relative to its size. There are at least 4,500 described species, and probably thousands as of yet undescribed.

just looked it up and found this,

Thanks everyone, for your kind replies x

there are lots of flies like this as it gives them false protection from what predetors think have stings.our hover flies are often mistaken for wasps .what gives these copycats away is there compound eyes and often the way they fly.

There were a couple 'hovering' around while I gardened today, not flying quickly like a bee ! Quite interesting to watch.

there are different sizes they fly more like humming birds realy

Well that was very interesting, thanks sanbaz, never seen one of these before will keep eyes open from now on!!

Oh and thanks Nita for posting photos!!!

thats ok, ive never seen them before x