From sparrows to sparrowhawks, stag beetles to muntjac stags, Hillingdon and Uxbridge boast a huge variety of wildlife. This blog contains my own observations and I welcome any input from other nature lovers.
Monday 7 June 2010
Strange insect
Saw a really peculiar insect in the garden. It was like a bumble bee but had what looked like a pair of filmy blue wings trailing behind it. Anyone got any idea of what it could be? It darted over the pond a few times, then hovered over blossom on a tree.
I've looked up violet carpenter bees (aren't they beautiful?) and bee flies, but neither fit the bill as they both lack the electric blue, filmy trailing tail it had. Haven't seen it since, but I'm keeping a camera handy just in case.
4 comments:
Sounds like a visitor from the Med., a Violet Carpenter Bee. Massive bee with blue wings.
Could it have been a bee fly? I've never seen one, but looked it up on Google and it sounds a bit as you describe.
Also looked up Jacula's violet carpenter bee - much prettier than the bee fly (and with a nicer name)!
Ooh, it sounds just like one of those! Must look it up.
I've looked up violet carpenter bees (aren't they beautiful?) and bee flies, but neither fit the bill as they both lack the electric blue, filmy trailing tail it had. Haven't seen it since, but I'm keeping a camera handy just in case.
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