Heath Bee Fly vs Bicolored Pennant Ant

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Heath Bee Fly Bicolored Pennant Ant
Scientific Name Bombylius minor Tetraponera rufonigra
Order Diptera Hymenoptera
Family Bombyliidae Formicidae
Size 7-10 mm 6-10 mm
Habitat Beaches & Coastal Forests
Diet Nectar Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions Europe India, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Heath Bee Fly

A small, late-summer bee fly with greyish fur and clear wings. Its larvae parasitize solitary wasps in sandy habitats.

💡

Did You Know?

Unlike most bee flies that appear in spring, this species flies mainly in July and August.

Bicolored Pennant Ant

A large, slender arboreal ant with a painful sting found across tropical Asia. Workers are bicolored with an orange head and thorax and a black gaster. They nest in hollow twigs and bamboo stems and are agile jumpers.

💡

Did You Know?

Their sting is notoriously painful and is compared to a wasp sting, unusual for such a slender ant.