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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » Orthorrhapha » Asiloidea » Bee Flies (Bombyliidae) » Bombyliinae » Bombyliini » Heterostylum » Bomber Fly (Heterostylum robustum)
Photo#817972
Hover feeder - Heterostylum robustum - female
Copyright © 2013 VNelson

Hover feeder - Heterostylum robustum - Female
Oakland, Alameda County, California, USA
August 3, 2013
Size: about 1/2 inch
This insect always hovered low to the ground and slowly proceeded from flower to flower, partly landing on it but still hovering.
It is inserting its probosis for nectar on a Sea Lavender. There is also a pointed projection between the eyes. Looks like it has
four wings but it could just be two and they were blurred.

Images of this individual: tag all
Hover feeder - Heterostylum robustum - female Hover feeder - Heterostylum robustum - female
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Contributed by VNelson on 5 August, 2013 - 12:50pm
Last updated 23 April, 2017 - 9:41pm

Moved
Moved from Bee Flies.
… Joel Kits, 15 October, 2013 - 6:04pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… v belov, 8 August, 2013 - 2:37am login or register to post comments

Bee fly for certain
Nice shot, but hard to clinch an ID from it. If you have a shot that sort of freezes the wings so I can have a look at the leading edge - tinted or not - I may be able to take the ID farther.

I continue to be amazed at how hard it is to determine number of wings. This certainly does look like four. In such cases, I default to a search for halteres, those little pads on flies that mount where a second set of wings would otherwise go. Nothing visible here, however.
… Ron Hemberger, 5 August, 2013 - 1:46pm login or register to post comments

 
Another shot of the hover bee
Best other shot. In this one it looks like just one pair of wings.

Thanks for your help.
… VNelson, 5 August, 2013 - 2:14pm login or register to post comments

 
A good guess: Bombylius sp., a female.
Sorry I can't tell you more.
… Ron Hemberger, 5 August, 2013 - 6:44pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks
Far more than I would know, and close enough for me, I see there's difficulty in ID-ing them. I have been unable to freeze the wing pattern, even at 1/1000th shutter speed.
It's very fascinating to watch it forage.
… VNelson, 6 August, 2013 - 10:32am login or register to post comments

 
It's great that you like to watch them.
Keep shooting, and you may eventually catch a break. I thing the odds improve if you can get directly above or below them, or close to it. (Good luck with that!)
… Ron Hemberger, 6 August, 2013 - 5:15pm login or register to post comments

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