Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Photo#13432
dark-edged bee fly - Bombylius major

dark-edged bee fly - Bombylius major
near Ailsa Craig, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada
April 13, 2004
Size: 6-7 mm
Nearctica.com lists 61 species of Bombylius, and althought there's a number of web images (mostly from Europe) labeled B. major I imagine there's several other that look similar, and I don't know how many species occur around here.

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dark-edged bee fly - Bombylius major dark-edged bee fly - Bombylius major

B. major
I'm pretty sure this is B. major. Evenhuis and Greathead's catalog of beeflies (here, part 1) lists four species for Ontario: B. major, which looks like this specimen; B. atriceps, shown at Giff Beaton's site; B. pygmaeus, shown here; and B. pulchellus, which I can't find any pictures of. Unless B. major and B. pulchellus look identical, I think calling this B. major is safe.