Mark McCaughrean

Bonus bug – a large bee fly or Bombylius major, feeding from a wild strawberry flower through its large proboscis 🐝🪰

A famous bee mimic species that looks cute & fluffy, but actually has a dark side, living parasitically off real bees when a larva 😬

Very hard to catch in flight or when feeding as they tend to whizz around at high speed & are quite twitchy around humans. With some more patience, maybe I'll catch one resting 🤞

#Photography 📷
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

Apr 14, 2025 at 3:39pmWeb
Show threadClimate Jenny 2.1Apr 14, 2025
@markmccaughrean I always thought of these guys as cute, but I may need to reassess.
Show threadKater-KetApr 14, 2025
@markmccaughrean I found these fellows levitating in mid-air in warm evening light about 2m above ground and feasible to photograph. Perhaps you are lucky.
Show threadMoritz NegwerApr 14, 2025
@markmccaughrean Just saw one of those yesterday when bughunting around the yard with my kid. I wondered what it was, and apparently the fediverse delivered. Thanks for sharing!
Show threadMark McCaughreanApr 14, 2025
@moritz_negwer My pleasure – this is the season for them 🙂
Show threadMike.Apr 14, 2025
@markmccaughrean had one buzzing around me today as a I worked on my laptop in the garden today. I managed to catch one sitting on the decking in the sun for about 10 minutes and took a few pics a long while ago now ( May 2016 ).
Show threadMark McCaughreanApr 14, 2025
@doddington Ah, very good – hopefully as the season proceeds, they'll take a more relaxed stance & I can get some pictures when they're resting.