They drop their eggs strategically so that when the larvae emerge they can easily locate and consume grubs and caterpillars.

The bee fly sometimes propels its eggs into holes where beetles live, and when the bee fly's eggs hatch, the larvae attack and eat the beetles' offspring.

This species at a glance resembles a bee, fumbling flowers for nectar and sporting alternating orange and black bars down its abdomen.

Unlike a bee, however, it has large red eyes and long, swept-back wings that it holds out from its body.

In Canada, it is found from British Columbia east to Manitoba, and its range extends south into much of the central and western United States, as well as Baja California, Mexico.