Seeing the dark-edged bee-fly hover in mid-air, some people describe it as a tiny, fluffy, flying narwhale. It has a hairy little body and face, and a very long, straw-like tongue.

At a glance, it's easy to mistake one for a bee. But these small fluffy creatures buzzing around looking for nectar are actually flies. And they have a fascinating lifestyle.

This is the most common bee-fly species in the UK. It is widespread across England, Wales and Scotland, occurring in urban gardens and city parks as well as in woodland and coastal areas.

It is one of the earliest bee-flies to emerge. Having pupated over winter, dark-edged bee-flies usually start to appear in March, but people sometimes report sightings as early as mid-February after unseasonally warm and sunny days - they don't usually fly in temperatures less than 17oC.

When they aren't whizzing from flower to flower, these sunseekers will often sunbathe on bare ground or dead leaves.

While adult bee-flies are adorable, a young bee-fly isn't quite as endearing. The larva is a parasitoid, meaning it is a parasite that will end up killing its host.

When the eggs hatch, the bee-fly larvae are very active. They have false legs that they use to enter the burrow of the bees and they have been known to stuff their faces with all the pollen left for the bee babies. Then they go through a second metamorphosis, called hyper-metamorphosis, which is very rare in the insect world.