Bee-flies

Bee-flies (family Bombyliidae) are a charismatic family of true flies in which the most common species famously mimic ground-nesting solitary bees, having a round, brown, furry body. With their long straight proboscis obvious at rest and when feeding on nectar while hovering, and their fast darting flight, they easily attract an observer’s attention.

The life cycles of bee-flies are fascinating variations on a theme. While the adults obtain nutrients from flowers, the larvae are parasitoids, cleptoparasites, or even hyperparasitoids, of their hosts (typically solitary bees and wasps). Bee-flies are most often encountered in warm, sunny habitats such as gardens, woodland edges, and open sandy ground, and they are most often seen in early spring.

This entoLEARN webinar will cover the 9 species of bee-fly that occur within the UK mainland:

• Bombylius major (Dark-edged Bee-fly)
• Bombylius discolor (Dotted Bee-fly)
• Bombylius canescens (Western Bee-fly)
• Bombylius minor (Heath Bee-fly)
• Villa cingulata (Downland Villa)
• Villa modesta (Dune Villa)
• Thyridanthrax fenestratus (Mottled Bee-fly)
• Phthiria pulicaria (Flea Bee-fly)
• Anthrax anthrax (Black-winged Bee-fly)

Entomologist Dr Tony Madgwick will provide identification guidance and insights into the ecology of these fascinating insects, as well as information about how you can submit your sightings through Bee-fly Watch.

This session is perfect for naturalists, entomologists, and anyone curious about bee-flies! Whether you're a beginner or an expert, you'll leave with a deeper appreciation for these remarkable bee-mimicking flies.

The 90-minute event will consist of a 1-hour presentation followed by a Q&A with the tutor using questions provided by the live audience. The presentation will be recorded and made available following the event to those booked alongside a transcript of the Q&A and useful links.

Dr Tony Madgwick (Pollinator Specialist)

Tony Madgwick is the London Natural History Society’s Recorder for Bees and Wasps. Tony’s mission is to support the appreciation, study and recording of London’s wild bee and wasp populations. To this end, he runs a number of events on sites across the capital, leading both formal surveys and informal “bee walks”. Tony has a number of other specialist interests linked to bees, pollination and pollinators, including insect cleptoparasites and parasitoids of bees, Hoverflies and Tachinid flies. Tony is a verifier on iRecord for Bee-fly Watch and the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society (BWARS).

entoLEARN

Our entoLEARN programme provides training on UK invertebrates through live webinars and online self-study courses, with subject specialists presenting aspects of the biology, ecology and behaviour of UK species.

This webinar is part of our True Flies series:

1. Bee-flies (25 Mar 2026)
2. Soldierflies (16 Apr 2026)
3. Robberflies (08 Oct 2026)