---

T?bingen (SW Germany), 03.04.06, on a wall

Is it Bombylius discolor?

cheers - martin

---

Probably, but to be certain we should know the colour of the hairs on the venter. These are dark in B. discolor and pale in the similar B. medius. The information I have also gives B. discolor as flying much earlier, so I can guess what the answer will be...

---

Not sure if it helps- here's a pic of what I think is Bombylius major I took yesterday South coast UK.
Brian V.

---

Yep, that's a major.

---

Thanks, Paul.

The ventral hairs are all black, so I think it's discolor

cheers - martin (the sun is out today ...)

---

Lord V : no, I don't think it's particularly helpful, but it IS a great picture! So thanks for sharing it with us ;),

Louis

---

Hello,



6 April 2006
Mill Hill, Sussex.
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/MillHill2006.html

More Information and links:
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Flies2006.html

Cheers

Andy Horton
glaucus@hotmail.com
Adur Valley (West Sussex) Nature Notes
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Adur2006.html
Adur Valley Nature Notes: April 2006
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/April2006.html

Button image for web sites linking Adur Nature Notes
http://www.smartgroups.com/pictures/openalbum.cfm?GID=1394578&AlbumID=5944265
><< ( ( ( ' >

---

Last year I had B. major on 10 April 2005 in a garden.


I have less information on what is meant to be the commoner of the two species in England. And it probably is commoner!

---

Has anybody else got other Bombylius photographs from northern Europe (at least two other species) they can post on this thread to make a useful reference please?

---

A possible B. ater?

http://www.dipter...=8#post_18

This is not a UK recorded species though:

Checklist of UK Recorded Bombyliidae

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bombylius canescens Mikan, 1796
Bombylius discolor Mikan, 1796
Bombylius major Linnaeus, 1758
Bombylius minor Linnaeus, 1758
Phthiria pulicaria (Mikan, 1796)
Thyridanthrax fenestratus (Fall?n, 1814)
Villa cingulata (Meigen, 1804)
Villa circumdata authors, misident.
Villa modesta (Meigen, 1820)
Villa venusta (Meigen, 1820)

The two species in the same genus are the ones most interesting to compare.

---

Hello,

Has anybody spotted any ordinary Bee-flies B. major, this year? All the reports have been of B. discolor!

Cheers

Andy Horton
glaucus@hotmail.com
Adur Valley (West Sussex) Nature Notes
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Adur2006.html
Adur Valley Nature Notes: April 2006
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/April2006.html

---

I have not seen bee flies but then again, they are pretty scarce in my part of the Netherlands... But as far as I am aware, B. major is the commoner of the two species and, conseriring Britain as a whole, I think it should be the commoner there, too.

---

Both species are certainly active in my part of East Sussex on the south coast of England. This year is the first time I have seen B. discolor, a nationally scarce fly to Britain, in my area. There again I have only been looking since last year.

Gordon

---

Loads of Bombylius major flying in Shropshire - central England. This is curious as in many places where I have seen Bombylius there is little evidence of the host Andrena mining bee. Certainly no sign of B discolor in these parts!

---

Assuming the pic above is B.major and the one below, I've seen quite a few in my garden just along the coast from you (Worthing)
Brian V.

Here's another pic from a couple of days ago.

---

I saw my first B. major on 22 April 2006 in sunny Sussex.

http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Flies2006.html

Not very good image so I will not post it. The black line on the wing could be seen easily without the aid of magnifying equipment. Could not get out int eh sunshine yesterday and now it is raining.

---

PS. A few days ago (8 April 2006), I saw scores of Andrena flavipes locally.

http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Bees2.html

---

Have we got dates that B. major was first recorded this year please?

Last year I made a note that the first one I saw was on 3 April 2005 in Sussex.

http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Flies2.html

---

First pic I have of one In Worthing Sussex was on 5th April 2006.
Brian V.

---

Good image.

As early as last year then.

I was hampered by observer opportunities this year. Bee flies do not visit my garden. I have to go to them.

Butterflies are late this year, but Bee-flies are on time or thereabouts? or were they earlier last year? (my first record was 3 April 2005).

---

I found B. major at two sites in East Sussex, England on 01/04/06. At both sites there were numerous Andrena flavipes.

Gordon

---

What is your area please? Coastal? Rye (a guess)?

---

My area is Peasmarsh about 3 miles inland from Rye

Gordon

---

I have just got back from central Australia (Northern Territory) and one of the outstanding things from my trip were the numbers of beeflies, particularly in the arid areas, but some also in the tropics. There were at least 5 different species flying, and I think probably more, ranging in size from 5mm to 20mm. When I have sorted my photos out I will post any that are good enough for a public airing.

---

In gardens one plant B. major seems to be attracted to is Spotted Deadnettle, Lamium maculatum but not as much as Rhingia hoverflies are.

---

Do we know the preferred bees that B.major larvae parasitize on please?

Or how to obtain T.A. Chapman's (1878) article in the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine, vol.14, pp.196-208.

---

Andy

I notice that Stubbs is fairly non-committal about Bombylid hosts and lists a number of solitary bee genera as possible hosts and points out that solitary bees tend to all nest in the same area and it can be very difficult distinguishing which species is being parasitised and much of the evidence is circumstantial. He also points out that the identification of the host can be questionable too.

---

Peter Harvey, Essex County Recorder, with a particular interest in Andrena, says he absolutely agrees with Alan Stubbs' comments. He also told me that there has only been one record of B discolor in Essex. So far this year, I have only seen one beefly in my own garden, B major, on 30.4.06. I have at least 5 species of mining bee Andrena and at least one Microandrena currently flying. Terry Lyle, Education Officer for the Environment Trust, Tower Hamlets, tells me that he has had large numbers of beeflies this year. They are particularly attracted to his patch of dwarf comfrey (Symphytum) and the wallflowers (Erysimum) in the planters at the entrance of the park. My experience, from my own garden, is that they love Honesty (Lunaria)

---

The hosts are difficult.

I have identified two species Andrena flavipes is common. Occasionally, I have identified (not without difficulty) Andrena dorsata but none are that close to the bee-flies. Except on one occasion they were. Andrena flavipes and Nomada fucata were easier to match locations.

The association of B. discolor with Ground Ivy was correlated. Possibly also B. major.

---

I have had a number of sitings of B.discolor this year and although there was plenty of 'Ground Ivy' around, on no occasion did I see them feeding on it. The only flower I did see them feeding on was Primrose (Primula vulgaris). In my garden they fed on Polyanthus.

Gordon

---

Cross ref:

http://www.diptera.info/forum/viewthread.php?forum_id=5&thread_id=8

B. ater (not on the Uk list)

---

I did NOT see B. discolor feeding on Ground Ivy either. It was not even in flower at the time. However, it was in the area which amounts to a large patch of Ground Ivy seen flowering in quantity a few days ago. Ground Ivy begins to flower in small quantities at the beginning of April when it was seen.

---

... you know now that i think about it... ive never actualy seen a live bee-fly

---

Bombylius females are rather careless mothers. They'll oviposit into any suitable-looking round hole in the ground - bee nests or lab tubes buried in sand are readily accepted. I would be surprised if they can afford to be very host-specific given the ovipositing pattern.

---

Hello,

29 March 2009
An unexpected treat was three or four individual Dotted Bee-flies, Bombylius discolor, using their long feeding tubes to take nectar on a large patch of Ground Ivy, Glechoma hederacea on Lancing Ring.


This is a notable record of a rarely recorded fly and is probably the first for Lancing. Bombylius discolor is a declining BAP (Biodiversity Action Plan) species. In Great Britain this species is classified as Nationally Scarce.
Report by Ray Hamblett on the new Friends of Lancing Ring web pages.

http://www.glaucus.org.uk/March2009.html
http://folr.wordpress.com/

5 April 2009
There were frequent Dotted Bee-flies, Bombylius discolor, hovering in mid-air and visiting Ground Ivy on the Coastal Link Cyclepath near Shoreham Cement Works, Upper Beeding.

The larvae of the Dotted Bee-fly are parasites of solitary bees with the host species identified of Andrena flavipes and Andrena cineraria. Nomada fucata (recorded on Mill Hill) is a cleptoparasitoid of Andrena flavipes.

Further Information

Adur Valley Nature Notes
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Flies2006.html#Dotted

Cheers

Andy Horton
glaucus@hotmail.com
Adur Valley Nature Notes
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Adur2009.html

Adur Valley Nature Notes: April 2009
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/April2009.html