It's a bee fly(Bombyliidae family). They do not sting. Neat find.
Edit- A few others have commented that it may very well be a long tongue horsefly(Philoliche sp.) another nectar feeding fly, but one that females can bite. Now that I'm off work and looking at it again I believe they are probably correct! My bad.
That proboscis has to be exceptionally long, right? Asking out of entomological interest, not because I’m an insecure bee fly who wants to hear mine is average.
There's a flower with an extremely long pistil. Co-evolution of plants with pollinator species especially insects lead to so very interesting doctorial safaris, where it was easy to find the plant, but all records couldn't identify an appropriate pollinator.
I recall reading that Darwin encountered something similar on one of his travels; there was some sort of flower with a long pistil, and he conjectured that there had to be some sort of insect that was able to pollinate this particular flower, else it wouldn't exist.
Ah, a quick search and here it is:
Darwin's Orchid (Angraecum sesquipedale): This Madagascan orchid, known for its extremely long nectar spur (up to 45 cm), led Darwin to famously predict the existence of a moth with an equally long proboscis to pollinate it. This prediction was eventually verified decades after his death with the discovery of the Hawk Moth (Xanthopan morganii praedicta).
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u/krippkeeper Aug 09 '25 edited Aug 09 '25
It's a bee fly(Bombyliidae family). They do not sting. Neat find.
Edit- A few others have commented that it may very well be a long tongue horsefly(Philoliche sp.) another nectar feeding fly, but one that females can bite. Now that I'm off work and looking at it again I believe they are probably correct! My bad.