100 more species #97: Tiger bee fly

[urbpan]

Tiger bee fly Xenox tigrinus

The bee flies, family Bombyliidae, are mostly flies that are furry and colorful and have come to look somewhat like bees. Recently there's been a spate of cute bee fly pics circulating the internet. The tiger bee fly, although related, is not cute and furry. It is huge and fearsome, resembling a horse fly or perhaps a large hornet, depending on what you are afraid of. It is entirely harmless to humans, so don't be alarmed. Unless you happen to be a carpenter bee, that is. You see, the tiger bee fly shares one important thing with it's cute fuzzy relatives: parasitoid larvae. The fly seeks out a carpenter bee nest and lays eggs on the bee larvae inside. The first instar of the fly larva is an active mobile maggot which burrows its way into the host; once inside, the fly larva metamorphoses into a sessile parasite which feeds on the developing carpenter bee, eventually killing it. Instead of a bee, a bee fly emerges from the nest.

Comments

[bleppo.livejournal.com]

Today, I saw the biggest freakin' fly I have ever seen (with the exception of the time I was on a long drive in Maine with my grandmother and we pulled over to pee in the woods and were not only attacked by Black flies, but discovered, once back in her ancient, tan, fake-wood-side-paneled station wagon, that we had tromped through human shit...).

Anyway, I didn't get a close look at this one, but he was huge.

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid of horseflies. I fell in a river once trying to run away from one. Bastards.

I'm pretty good at not freaking out at insects that look a bit like the ones I don't like though.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Huh. I swear I saw one of those last weekend. I thought it was a deer fly, but it was enormous.

[anais2.livejournal.com]

I had to identify these earlier this summer, when they started appearing frequently- turns out, the neighbors balcony is infested with carpenter bees! Strange that I hadn't encountered one before, but good news for the neighbor.