Species of the Month: May 2016

Dark-edged Bee-fly Bombylius major

 

This slightly odd looking furry fly is a good sign of spring, visiting gardens and green spaces in search of flowers. There are a couple of Bee-fly species in south Wales, but Dark-edged Bee-fly is the most common garden visitor. The other similar species, Dotted Bee-fly Bombylius discolor, lacks the dark front to the wings, and also has a line of white dots on the abdomen (females only). Despite the relatively easy identification needed for Bombylius species, we have just 263 records for Dark-edged Bee-fly and 43 records of Dotted Bee-fly!

There is lots of information about Bee-flies including an identification guide-sheet available from the Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme website.

This map on Aderyn shows the distribution of Dark-edged Bee-fly at a 10km square level for the whole of Wales. Zoom in or click on a 10km square to see the 1km square record distribution.

If you spot Dark-edged Bee-fly during May (or see any Bee-fly species at any other time of year), please send us the record, ideally via SEWBReCORD or the LERC Wales App. Instructions on how to submit records are available here.