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Tiger Bee Fly (Xenox tigrinus)
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Tiger Bee Fly (Xenox tigrinus)
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These relatively large flies (12-19 mm -- 5/8" or so) don't start showing up around our place until mid-summer. Then, I most often notice Tiger Bee Flies among the rafters on our porch. They often hover near a rafter and then thump it with their heads. I don't quite have the sequence of events worked out yet, but what the flies are doing is hunting for a unprotected nest containing carpenter bee larvae. If successful, the female Tiger Bee Fly will lay her eggs in the nest and her larvae will feed on the carpenter bee larvae.
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