Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bee fly

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.00 in modern English

Syllables: bee fly
IPA

14

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any of the flies in the family Bombyliidae, with adults that look like bumblebees and larvae that are parasitic on the eggs or larvae of other insects.

Example Sentences

"Bee flies are a group of flies that look like bees, presumably to avoid being eaten by birds, who know that bees sting. The Nightking bee fly is known only from a small area in Western Australia, is around 1 cm long and can only be found during winter."
"“Xuankun Li, who named the bee fly Paramonovius nightking, is a PhD student at CSIRO and a huge fan of ‘Game of Thrones,’ proving that inspiration for new species names can come from anywhere,” entomologist Dr. Bryan Lessard said in a statement."

Etymology

From bee + fly. Compare Icelandic býfluga.

Inflected Forms

bee flies (plural) bee-fly (alternative)

Questions

What does bee fly mean?: Any of the flies in the family Bombyliidae, with adults that look like bumblebees and larvae that are parasitic on the eggs or larvae of other insects.
Where does bee fly come from?: From bee + fly. Compare Icelandic býfluga.

How to pronounce bee fly

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