Bird, bug, butterfly and a wild variety of photos from Belarus, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland and Spain by Irish wildlife photographer Patrick J. O'Keeffe and invited guests

Friday, 27 August 2021

YELLOW BANDED CONOPS FLY or YELLOW BANDED BEE GRABBER (Conops quadrifasciatus) male Abbeyleix Bog, Abbeyleix, Co. Laois, Ireland



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The Yellow Banded Conpos Fly (Conops quadrifasciatus) or Yellow-banded Bee Grabber is of the family Conopidae which is in the genus Conops. This wasp mimic occurs in Europe and in parts of Western Asia. It is a parasite of Red Tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) and other members of that genus.The female grabs onto a potential bumblebee host and lays a single egg on it. When the larva hatches, it enters the host and becomes an endoparisite which eventually leads to mortality of the host and then the adult emerges from it. Nectar as well as pollen are its food source and the flight season is from June into September.
 
Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds