Bug FAQBumble Bee Hover Fly
Volucella bombylans · Order: Diptera · Family: Syrphidae
The bumble bee hover fly is a large hoverfly, 11 to 17 mm long with a wingspan of 8 to 14 mm, and it mimics bumblebees with a furry black, yellow and white body. It lives in Europe, the Near East and parts of North America, and can be seen from May to September, especially in June.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure 11 to 17 mm in body length and have a wingspan of 8 to 14 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults feed on nectar and pollen from many flowers, especially blue ones such as valerian, geranium, knapweed, thistle and willowherb. Females lay eggs in social wasp or bumblebee nests, where the larvae scavenge debris and sometimes eat host larvae.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The species has two generations and is active from May through September, with a peak in June.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
You are most likely to see them in early summer, especially June, but they can be present through late summer.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
They occur across most of Europe, the East Palearctic region, the Near East and the Nearctic realm.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It mimics bumblebees; the var. bombylans has an orange-red tail like the red-tailed bumblebee, while var. plumata has a white tail resembling white-tailed or buff-tailed bumblebees, and it can also be confused with other syrphids such as Arctophila bombiformis and Merodon equestris.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 9 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Alaska, Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Carolina.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What does the bumble bee hover fly look like?
It resembles a bumblebee with a furry black, yellow or white body, but its plumed antennae, large eyes and wing venation reveal it is a fly.
Source: Wikipedia
When are they active?
They are active from May to September, with the highest numbers in June.
Source: Wikipedia
Where can I find them?
Look for them on forest edges, clearings, hedgerows, wet meadows, spruce forest edges, urban wasteland and gardens, often sunning on leaves.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Syrphidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volucella_bombylans
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.