Bane of Bumbles - _TNY_9340
Some might say this fly looks a bit scary - and if you're a bumblebee it most definitely is.
This is a ferruginous bee-grabber (Sicus ferrugineus), a parasitic fly which pounces on worker bumblebees and using a specialised ovipositor, they inject their egg inside the bumblebee where it haqtches and feeds off the bumblebee.
This one had parked at the top of the flower on a spiked speedwell (Veronica spicata) and like they often do, it has folded its abdomen in under the body.
Bane of Bumbles - _TNY_9340
Some might say this fly looks a bit scary - and if you're a bumblebee it most definitely is.
This is a ferruginous bee-grabber (Sicus ferrugineus), a parasitic fly which pounces on worker bumblebees and using a specialised ovipositor, they inject their egg inside the bumblebee where it haqtches and feeds off the bumblebee.
This one had parked at the top of the flower on a spiked speedwell (Veronica spicata) and like they often do, it has folded its abdomen in under the body.