The Bombyliidae are a family of flies, commonly known as bee flies. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, some being important pollinators. Larvae are mostly parasitoids of other insects.

Musca depicta ("painted fly" in Latin) is a depiction of a fly as an inconspicuous element of various paintings. This feature was widespread in 15th and 16th centuries paintings and its presence may be explained by various reasons. [100] Yeates D.M. (1992). "Towards a monophyletic Bombyliidae (Diptera): the removal of the Proratinae (Diptera: Scenopinidae)". American Museum Novitates (3051): 1–30. The Bombyliidae include at least 4,500 described species, and certainly thousands more remain to be described. However, most species do not often appear in abundance, and compared to other major groups of pollinators they are much less likely to visit flowering plants in urban parks or suburban gardens. As a result, this is arguably one of the most poorly known families of insects relative to its species richness. The family has a patchy fossil record, with species being known from a handful of localities, [3] the oldest known species are known from the Middle Cretaceous Burmese amber, around 99 million years old. [4] Euchariomyia dives, a Bombyliidae in India: Note the bright bands of coloured hair, the long and thin legs and upright posture, the "delta wings", the proboscis, and the forward-pointing antennae. Morphology [ edit ] Adult [ edit ]The normal top speed of a worker bee would be about 15 - 20 mph (21 - 28 km/h) when flying to a food source and about 12 mph (17 km/h) when returning heavily laden with nectar, pollen, propolis or water. Are you interested in taking up the fascinating hobby of beekeeping but don’t know where to start or want to find out what might be involved?

a b c d e f Hull, Frank M. (1973). Bee flies of the world: the genera of the family Bombyliidae. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.48406. ISBN 0874741319.Trautwein, Michelle D.; Wiegmann, Brian M.; Yeates, David K. (2011). "Overcoming the effects of rogue taxa: Evolutionary relationships of the bee flies". PLOS Currents. 3: RRN1233. doi: 10.1371/currents.RRN1233. PMC 3088465. PMID 21686308. Webb D.W., 1981 Hilarimorphidae. in: McAlpine J.F. (Ed.), Manual of Nearctic Diptera. Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, pp. 603-605. This is the most common species and one of the early spring species appearing in March. 2020 was extraordinary though with a sighting on the 17 th February! These will be on the wing to late June peaking mid-April to May.