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Hi,

again, today I observed a larger Bombyliidae that took an interest in one of our insect shelters. I am not really sure what species that could be, my best guess would be Villa sp.. Unfortunately, the light wasn't that good anymore, so the image is not very good. Is it still possible, to narrow down the determination?

Germany, Southern Bavaria, Garden in Munich (-West), Insect shelter, 20.05.2024, app. 13 mm

Greetings, Uli

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The wing pattern is atypical for Villa and closer to Anthrax.

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Hi John,

thanks for the correction. You are certainly right, I just found pictures of freshly hatched Anthrax anthrax which look a lot like that one.
A. anthrax is obviously parasitizing mason bees, like Osmia sp.. These use the insect shelter frequently and numerously, so it might well be a recently hatched specimen. It was sitting at the side of the shelter for a long time, before it finally took off.

Greetings, Uli

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Hi Uli, fresh (teneral) Anthrax anthrax is correct.

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Hi Eric,

thank you for the confirmation. That was quite interesting.

Greetings, Uli