Bee fly

/bˈiː flˈaɪ/

[noun]

Bee fly

[NOUN]

a type of fly that resembles a bee in appearance, often with a robust body, furry appearance, and long proboscis

What is a "bee fly"?

A bee fly is an insect that mimics the appearance of a bee with its robust body and fuzzy texture. Despite its deceptive appearance, it is actually a type of fly. Bee flies have a long proboscis, or mouthpart, which they use to feed on nectar from flowers. They are important pollinators, visiting various flowering plants and transferring pollen from one flower to another. Unlike bees, bee flies do not have a stinger and are harmless to humans. These fascinating insects play a role in ecosystem dynamics by contributing to pollination and serving as a food source for other organisms.

Examples

1. So as the bees fly out, we'll talk about how they collect that nectar.

2. The kind of buzzing we hear when bees fly comes from their wings, which they can flap at up to 230 beats per second.

3. Next time you see a bee fly by, remember that it belongs to a complex network of matchmakers critical to the love lives of plants all around you.

4. This cave painting from Spain is dated anywhere between 8,000 to 15,000 years old, depending on who you ask, and depicts a woman or a man, kind of an androgynous figure-- a choose your gender figure-- climbing this rope ladder to harvest exactly what we saw in the previous slide, a comb of honeycomb and with honey bees flying all around her.