Major

It's always a notable marker of the arrival of spring when I spot the first Dark-edged Bee-fly of the year in my garden. Today, after several days of cold and cloudy weather the sun came out, and as the temperature zoomed up into the mid-teens, so did this single male Bombylius major.

I have a rather ambivalent relationship with these little flies. On the one hand, they're weirdly cute, and as I said, they herald the arrival of spring; but on the other, the females lay their eggs in the nests of mining bees and their larvae parasitise the host larvae, which is behaviour I don't feel I can really endorse. Scientists assert that the presence of bee-flies doesn't depress the population of their hosts, and that in fact they contribute towards a healthy ecosystem, but still... I've never been able to rid myself of the feeling that this kind of kleptoparasitism simply isn't fair.

There's an interesting article here from the Natural History Museum about the UK's various bee-fly species. And if you'd like to contribute to a long-running national survey of these insects by joining in with Bee-fly Watch, you can find out how to take part, and see results for the season so far, at the Dipterists' Forum.