Laphria flava

Laphria flava is a bee like Robber-fly, around 25mm body length. Now very rare in the UK only occuring in the Caledonian pine forest area in Scotland. Like the Hornet Robber-fly, Laphria is a predator of other insects, usually catching them in mid flight.

The females are more bulky with a tapering abdomen, they deposit eggs in old pine logs and stumps.

There are many more Laphria species around the world, a lot of which are bee or wasp mimics, which is ironic since some will catch bees and wasps as prey if given the chance.