Bombylius major feeding on Cardamine pratensis
Description
- Title:
- Bombylius major feeding on Cardamine pratensis
- Caption / Description:
-
A large bee fly (Bombylius major) feeds on the pink flowers of Lady's Smock (Cardamine pratensis) in late March.
The large bee fly, Bombylius major, is a bee mimic. The eggs are flicked by the adult female toward the entrance of the underground nests of solitary bees and wasps. After hatching, the larvae find their way into the nests to feed on the grubs.
The adult is 14 to 18 mm in length, squat and very hairy, with a wingspan of around 24 mm. It has dark patches on the anterior half of the wings and long hairy legs that dangle while in flight. Bee flies are expert flyers, and their hovering habit has led to their being incorrectly called a species of hoverfly (Syrphidae). The very long proboscis is used to feed on the nectar of many species of flower, especially primroses.
Bombylius major can be found in April to June throughout temperate Europe and North America and some parts of Asia.
Description from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombylius_major
- Tags / Keywords:
-
- Biota
- Life
- Vitae
- Eukaryota
- Animalia
- Animals
- Arthropoda
- Arthropods
- Insecta
- Insects
- Plantae
- Plants
- Magnoliophyta
- Flowering Plants
- Angiosperms
- Magnoliopsida
- Dicotyledons
- Brassicales
- Brassicaceae
- Mustard
- Cruciferae
- Crucifers
- Diptera
- Flies
- Cardamine
- Bittercress
- Cardamine pratensis
- Lady's Smock
- Cuckoo Flower
- Bombyliidae
- Bee flies
- Bombylius
- Bombylius major
- Greater Bee Fly
Admin
- Date Original Photo Taken:
- Original File Name:
- pink flowers & bee with long snout 007.JPG
- Event:
- Rating:
- Date this image added/last updated on website:
- Original File Dimensions:
- 2560px x 1920px
- File Type:
- JPEG
- Color Mode:
- Original Image Color Profile:
- sRGB IEC61966-2.1
Location
- Location Created:
-
- Sublocation:
- New Way Lane
- City:
- Hurstpierpoint
- Province/State:
- West Sussex
- Country:
- United Kingdom
- World Region:
- Europe
- Geo-location:
- 50.918511666667, -0.166765 View on map
Rights
- Copyright Status:
- Copyrighted
- Licensing Status:
- Rights Managed
- Available for Editorial Use:
- Yes
- Available for Commercial Use:
- Yes
- Copyright Notice:
- © 2007 Dave Kennard
Camera Data
- Date Digital Resource was created:
- Shutter speed:
- 1⁄400 s
- Aperture:
- f/5.6
- Camera Model:
- Panasonic DMC-FZ5
- ISO:
- 100
- Exposure Compensation:
- 0
- Focal Length:
- 6mm
- Focal Length (35mm equiv.):
- 36mm
- Metering Mode:
- Multi-segment
- Flash:
- Off, Did not fire
- Exposure Mode:
- Auto
- White Balance:
- Auto
- Light Source:
- Unknown
- Exposure Program:
- Program AE
Additional shooting metadata
- Lens:
- Filters used:
- Additional Optics used:
- Setup:
- Handheld
Post Processing
- Image Modified:
- Software used:
- Post Processing: