bee fly

plural bee flies · alternative bee-fly

1. Any of the flies in the family Bombyliidae, with adults that look like bumblebees and larvae that are parasitic on the eggs or larvae of other insects.

   Bee flies are a group of flies that look like bees, presumably to avoid being eaten by birds, who know that bees sting. The Nightking bee fly is known only from a small area in Western Australia, is around 1 cm long and can only be found during winter.

   2019 July 1, “A Game of Flies: naming 230 new species”, in CSIRO

   1 more example

   “Xuankun Li, who named the bee fly Paramonovius nightking, is a PhD student at CSIRO and a huge fan of ‘Game of Thrones,’ proving that inspiration for new species names can come from anywhere,” entomologist Dr. Bryan Lessard said in a statement.

   2019 July 1, Lauren M. Johnson, “New species of bee fly named after ‘Game of Thrones’ character”, in CNN