Moustached fly
The moustached fly is a big, furry fly that dresses up as a bumblebee. It is black with a yellow-brown band and a brown, white-edged bottom. At the base of each wing it has a bright orange patch.
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Fun facts
Its disguise is so good that it looks like a bumblebee to birds and people. Pretending to be a stinging animal helps keep it safe.
You can tell the female from the male by the yellow-brown band on its back. The female's band is much wider.
The grown-up flies are out in summer, from June to September.
It changes completely as it grows: egg, maggot, a resting stage called a pupa, and then a fly.
Most asked questions about Moustached fly
?Is the moustached fly a bumblebee?
No. It is a fly that copies the colours and fluffy hair of a bumblebee. It has no sting.
?How big is a moustached fly?
About 9 to 12 millimetres long, which is big for a fly.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Mesembrina mystacea
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Muscidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Muscidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Mesembrina mystacea (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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