It's a bee! It's a fly! No, it's a Bee-fly!

I was pumping up the tires for our bike ride and this flying something landed in the garage.  It caught my eye for two reasons...I had never seen anything like it before and it appeared to be hovering just above the ground. 

So I took a few pictures of it so I could Google what I had seen.  And it wasn't until I looked at the pictures that I realized it was not hovering but rather the wings keep moving even with its legs on the ground.

These pictures are mine (one with my phone and one with my camera)





The is a Bee-fly (possibly a Large Bee-fly).  It's a bee mimic from what I read.  Here is more from Wikipedia...

The eggs are flicked by the adult female toward the entrance of the underground nests of solitary bees and wasps. After hatching, the larvae find their way into the nests to feed on the grubs.

The very long proboscis is used to feed on the nectar of many species of flower, especially primroses. While its wings continue to beat its front legs grip the flower and its long rigid beak is inserted to collect the nectar.  Despite its fearsome appearance, the beak is quite harmless.

Bearing a resemblance to bees their body is stout and furry, with the top of the thorax being black and shiny and the pile either brown, yellow, or white. They have long spindly legs as well as a long rigid proboscis found in the front of the head. In the field they will be seen hovering and darting above bare ground or flowers, in an up-and-down movement, accompanied by a high-pitched buzz.

 

Here are some pictures from the internet that helped me identity this interesting creature...