The ferruginous bee-grabber is a skilled aerial acrobat, often seen hovering in sunlit clearings and meadows. It boasts a distinctive wing-beat, impressive maneuverability, and a penchant for nectar, which it sources from a variety of blooming plants. Notably, as an adult, its diet differs from its larval stage, where it adopts a more carnivorous lifestyle, often within the nests of social insects.

With a slender, elongated abdomen featuring a distinctive pattern of black and yellow bands, four-banded bee-grabber is a striking sight midflight. This adept flier primarily resides in temperate regions, where it delivers a precise and effective contribution to ecosystem balance by parasitizing bumblebees. During its larval stage, it resides within its host, developing discreetly before emerging to continue its life cycle. Its adult diet, in contrast to its carnivorous beginnings, consists mainly of nectar.

Physocephala furcillata is a fly species from the family of the bladderhead flies (Conopidae). The scientific name of the species was first validly published in 1882 by Williston.

Physocephala rufipes is a species of fly from the genus Physocephala in the family Conopidae. Their larvae are endoparasites of bumble bees of the genus Bombus. It is common throughout much of Europe.

Physocephala burgessi is a species of thick-headed fly in the family Conopidae.