Bee-fly

I was walking along a Sandy track at Studland in Dorset at the end of July 2008
When I can across a tiny insect with a body length of approximately 7 mm and wingspan of approximately 15 mm.

I could not identify it, so I took a few pictures with the intention of identifying it at a later date.

After online research and a few comments on the UK Butterflies web site, it was identified as a Heath Bee-fly.
I had never heard of the "Bee-fly" before. It is reasonably rare and my research shoed that it is limited to a few sites in Britain including Studland in Dorset where we saw this tiny insect.

It's Latin name being "Bombylius minor" and my picture is of a female.

Although the "regular Bee-fly" is reasonably common in England, the Heath Bee-fly is much rarer and as such it is on the UK Biodiversity Action plan as a vulnerable species. External link to the Heath Bee-fly page UK Biodiversity web site

More information on Heath Bee-fly on the ARKIVE website