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Keith Burton / Photos

Bee-fly (Bombylius major) (+ PiP)

The first Bee-fly I've seen this year and of course I only had a 40-150mm zoom lens with me! This is a huge crop, but I'm quite pleased with it as a record shot.

Even shooting at 1/2000 sec, the wings are still blurred.

Better viewed large. There's another shot in the PiP if you have time to look.

Bee-flies (which are generally between 1 and 3cm long), can hover very efficiently, it holds itself to the flower with its spindly front legs and then feeds while buzzing in mid-air.

While feeding, the bee-fly's tongue gets covered in pollen, which it takes to the next flower in its search for nectar. The most distinctive feature of a bee-fly is its long proboscis, a bit like a butterfly's, except that it doesn’t curl away when not in use.
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28 comments

Annemarie said:

wonderful image Keith
Wish you a peaceful Easter.
19 months ago

Keith Burton replied to Annemarie:

Thanks very much Annemarie.
19 months ago ( translate )

Jaap van 't Veen said:

Awesome close-up Keith.
Peaceful Easter
19 months ago ( translate )

Keith Burton replied to Jaap van 't Veen:

Thank you Jaap.
19 months ago ( translate )

elvigiadelosamanecer… said:

Espectacular.
19 months ago ( translate )

Keith Burton replied to elvigiadelosamanecer…:

Thank you kind sir.
19 months ago

Rosalyn Hilborne said:

You have captured it beautifully Keith. You must have a good steady hand! The PiP is superb.
Very good and interesting information also. There is such a variety of bees and flies. I'm not too good at identifying them, but will look out for this one with the distinctive proboscis.

Have a great Easter weekend.
19 months ago

Keith Burton replied to Rosalyn Hilborne:

Thanks very much Rosa.............I was greatly helped by the in-camera image stabilisation, which is a wonderful thing, especially as I get older and more doddery :-))

It's almost impossible to remember the names of all the bees and flies............the number of different special and sub species is almost infinite. I always remember this one though as its proboscis is pretty unique for a fly! Sometimes it gets called a "fluffy narwhal" :-)))

Enjoy the rest of the extended weekend.
19 months ago

Stephan Fey said:

They look so cute and furry!
19 months ago

Günter Klaus said:

Dein Tele hat für ein wunderschönes Bokeh gesorgt lieber Keith und diese blauen Traubenhyazinthensind mit ihrer Farbe ja auch immer Hingucker,sehr schön hast du das mit deinen Tele umgesetzt und sehr schöne Nahaufnahmen gemacht :))

Wünsche noch einen schönen Nachmittag,ganz liebe Grüße Güni :))
19 months ago ( translate )

Ecobird said:

A beautiful close up shot Keith. Love colours and you can actually see the vibration of the wings.
Sorry to seem ignorant but is the Bee fly the same as a hover fly? I am afraid I am not good at identification and have not heard of a bee fly before.

Have a lovely Easter
19 months ago

Ulrich John said:

The blue is wonderful, Keith ! A very nice macro !
19 months ago

Roger (Grisly) said:

Great colours and extraordinary detail, especially when viewed large,
The lens must be very versatile to capture fine close shots like these and produce such lovely bokeh, Keith
Thanks for the information because I am like others who have commented and not good on bee or fly identification
19 months ago

Fred Fouarge said:

schitterende makro keith
een supershot blau druifje plus bezoeker
19 months ago ( translate )

Jenny McIntyre said:

Fantastic PiP - you can really see its long tongue and even the wings do still look blurred, they must be going so fast anyway. I've never heard of a bee-fly before and maybe I've seen one, not knowing what it was. The detail of the grape hyacinth is great - so hopefully there was some nectar there for it to pass on to the next flower
19 months ago
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