Welcome

Insects are enigmatic.  We stare at them and we shy away.  We hate them and we love them. They hurt us and they help us.  They soothe us and they harm us.  They provide for us and they make us seek shelter.  They are 6-legged arthropods, a class of animals subdivided into close to 30 orders, one of which is Diptera (flies).

Flies themselves are a challenge.  With more than 100 families here in North America, the sheer numbers boggle the mind.  The colors, the patterns, the shapes, the sizes, the behaviors... Some cause trouble and some are innocuous.  One of the more docile of these families, at least to humans, is Bombyliids (bee flies), the subject of this website.

Below are some topics that will get you acquainted with the bee flies of southeastern Arizona, or you can go directly to the Species Accounts page to begin investigating these amazing insects.