• ABOUT
  • BIRDING 2018
  • Birding 2019
  • BLOG POSTS
  • Butterflies 2018
  • Resources

earthstar

~ a celebration of nature

earthstar

Tag Archives: Dark-edged bee-fly

Greedy for Garlic

20 Sunday Apr 2025

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring, wildflowers

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Allium ursinum, British wildflowers, Dark-edged bee-fly, Honey bee, Ramsons, solitary bee, Speckled wood, spring flowers, Wild garlic

The first two days of the Easter break were very wet so I’m glad I took these images last Sunday. One of our local parks has the perfect environment for Wild garlic – Ramsons, if you prefer, Allium ursinum. A shallow ravine runs through the park, with a small stream meandering along its base, and, at this time of year, the steep sides of the gulley are carpeted with the lush green leaves and bright white umbels of garlic flowers. Elsewhere in the park, under tall old trees, the path is also lined with Wild garlic, so anywhere you walk, whenever you breathe, your nostrils are almost assaulted by garlic’s strong smell.

Though I know some people can’t tolerate this odour, it doesn’t seem to affect the insects, neither attracts nor repels them; a flower’s a flower, with the pollen and nectar that nurtures them. Last Sunday’s walk wasn’t particularly sunny but I still found a few creatures feeding greedily: a Speckled wood, a teeny solitary bee and a Honey bee, and a Dark-edged bee-fly.

Like Loading...

Luscious leek for lunch

13 Sunday Apr 2025

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, spring, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Allium triquetrum, Dark-edged bee-fly, Hairy-footed flower bee, insects on Three-cornered leek, solitary bee, Three-cornered garlic, Three-cornered leek

Today’s short local meander was rather smelly, firstly with swathes of Wild garlic (which will feature in an upcoming post) and also this lush area of Three-cornered leek (or Three-cornered garlic, Allium triquetrum), which was attracting lots of insects.

First up, a tiny solitary bee.

Then, several Dark-edged bee-flies came hovering in to view, long spiky legs dangling below and long tongues poking in to the flowers to feed.

And then this brute showed up, the first Hairy-footed flower bee I’ve managed to photograph this year, just.

Like Loading...

Starlings and bee-flies

26 Wednesday Mar 2025

Posted by sconzani in birds, insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

birding, birdwatching, Bombylius major, British birds, Dark-edged bee-fly, starling

Starlings and bee-flies may seem like an odd combination but these were the highlights of yesterday’s walk. First, I listened spellbound to the extraordinary range of sounds this gorgeous Starling and its friends were producing – and I’ve heard that the human ear isn’t capable of hearing the full range of its acoustic repertoire, which is even more astounding. And don’t even get me started on those fabulous feathers.

Meander … amble … stroll … and I ended up having a mooch around my favourite scruffy and neglected Cardiff park, which always manages to turn up something special (as long as you ignore the rubbish and the occasional druggie lurking in the vegetation). Yesterday, up popped my first two Dark-edged bee-flies (Bombylius major) of 2025, those little bundles of flying fluff that hide a dark and gruesome lifecycle of parasitism on their solitary bee cousins. They are cute to look at though.

Like Loading...

First Bee-fly

20 Wednesday Mar 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bee-fly, Bombylius major, British bee-flies, British flies, Dark-edged bee-fly, signs of spring

As well as the lovely Comma, Monday’s walk also produced my first bee-fly sightings for 2024. We only have Dark-edged bee-flies (Bombylius major) in my area and these were all males, as they usually emerge before the females. It’s so heartening to see these wonderful little signs of Spring.

240320 dark-edged bee-fly

Like Loading...

Bee-flies are go!

18 Friday Mar 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bee-fly, Bombylius major, British bee-flies, Dark-edged bee-fly, signs of spring

Actually, keen-eyed bee-fly fanciers have been spotting these fuzzy little beasties for a week or so now, and by 14 March, 14 records – all in England – had been entered in to the recording system. And yesterday, in warm sunshine and alongside a sheltered footpath with plenty of flowering Lesser celandine, I finally saw my first bee-fly of the year. This is a Dark-edged bee-fly (Bombylius major); although there are other species in Britain, this is the only species local to me.

220318 bee-fly

For everything you might ever want to know about bee-flies, there’s a fantastic presentation The A to Z of Bee-flies on the FSC Biodiversity channel on YouTube.

Like Loading...

It’s bee-fly time again

30 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by sconzani in spring

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bee-fly, British bee-flies, Dark-edged bee-fly

My, what long legs you have! My, what a long proboscis you have! But this is no big bad wolf – it’s a bee-fly, a Dark-edged bee-fly (Bombylius major) to be precise.

210330 dark-edged bee-fly (1)

There are several species of bee-fly in Britain but this is the only one I’ve seen – we don’t appear to get any others locally. Still, it’s fabulous to see these furry creatures flitting from flower to flower again. Yet another sign of spring!

210330 dark-edged bee-fly (2)
210330 dark-edged bee-fly (3)

The Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme has been running Bee-fly Watch for the last six years and wants your help to track the emergence and the spread of bee-flies in Britain. You can find out more on their website.

Like Loading...

105/366 A colony of miners

14 Tuesday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Andrena cineraria, Ashy mining bee, Bombylius major, British bees, Dark-edged bee-fly, mining bee colony

I’d forgotten about this little colony of Ashy mining bees (Andrena cineraria) until I walked past on today’s exercise walk, saw their buzz of spring activity, remembered them at this location last summer. The female bees have set up home – a series of individual nests, accessed by the small holes you can see in my photos – in a sandy bank near the entrance to one of the few local parks that’s still open.

200414 ashy mining bee male (1)200414 ashy mining bee male (2)

The males in this group (2 of perhaps 20 shown above) were particularly active, sometimes fighting each other for access to the larger females (the two photos immediately below), sometimes battling with the females as they tried to mate with them.

200414 ashy mining bee female (1)
200414 ashy mining bee female (2)

200414 ashy mining bees

Unfortunately, I was not the only creature watching the bees’ activity – a Dark-edged bee-fly (Bombylius major) was also hovering nearby, waiting to roll its eggs into the bees’ tunnels so its larvae could predate the bees’ offspring. Not surprisingly, the bees were dive-bombing, trying to make it flee.

200414 dark-edged bee-fly

Like Loading...

85/365 A day of firsts

26 Tuesday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, ladybird, nature, spring

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, 7-spot ladybirds, bee-flies, Comma butterfly, Common Green Shieldbug, Dark-edged bee-fly, Peacock butterfly, Penarth Rail Trail, Sawfly, south Wales coastal path, Speckled wood

190326 (1) rail trail

I walked further than I intended today but I just couldn’t resist the sunshine, the calls of the birds, the bees and hoverflies buzzing all around, the white blossom and the vibrant green leaf growth … it was magical! Yesterday, I saw my first Peacock butterflies of the year and today I saw four more, plus my first two Speckled woods and my first Comma, my first Common green shieldbug and my first Dark-edged bee-flies, lots of them, and my first 7-spot ladybirds. It gladdens my heart to see so much new life emerging.

 

190326 (2) speckled wood
190326 (3) bee-fly
190326 (4) 7-spot ladybird
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
190326 (6) bee-fly
190326 (7) peacock
190326 (8) comma
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
190326 (11) bee-fly

190326 (12) coastal path

Like Loading...

About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

View Full Profile →

Follow earthstar on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent blog posts

  • N is for nest December 19, 2025
  • M is for mite December 18, 2025
  • L is for lepidopteran lifers December 17, 2025
  • K is for Keeled skimmers December 16, 2025
  • J is for Jersey tiger December 15, 2025

From the archives

COPYRIGHT

Unless otherwise acknowledged, the text and photographs on this blog are my own and are subject to international copyright. Nothing may be downloaded or copied without my permission.

Fellow Earth Stars!

  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar
  • Unknown's avatar

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • earthstar
    • Join 667 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • earthstar
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.

    %d