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cricketumpire — Nature's invitation...
#flower #fly #hoverfly #insect #nature
Published: 2020-02-29 00:23:02 +0000 UTC; Views: 5087; Favourites: 354; Downloads: 9
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Description
Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf,
and take an insect view of its plain. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Episyrphus balteatus, sometimes called the marmalade hoverfly, is a relatively small hoverfly (9–12 mm) of the Syrphidae family, widespread throughout Europe, North Asia, and North Africa. The upper side of the abdomen is patterned with orange and black bands. Two further identification characters are the presence of secondary black bands on the third and fourth dorsal plates and faint greyish longitudinal stripes on the thorax. Its colour patterns may appear wasp-like to other animals, such as birds, protecting it from predation but it is entirely harmless to humans.
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Comments: 95
Thank you for that generous comment...
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I remember being somewhat cautious of them when I was a kid. They look kinda like bees. I wasn't really fooled, but neither did I see any point in taking chances.
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They are of the fly family so have no means of harming humans, unlike the bee or wasp whose warning markings it so successfully copies
...as you have just proved
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The strategy seems to be working, since they have successfully managed to spread themselves around the world.
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Aww, I love hoverflies. All because they look like harmless little bees.
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As you know there is no connection with bees but they are similar in appearance and harmless. Their claim to fame is that ability to hover perfectly
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The marmalade hoverfly is recorded as liking yellow flowers in particular. That combination obviously worked in my favour
...at least, I think it did
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Very interesting to know
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Thanks. I'm no expert on insect identification but the description seems to correctly match the fly here. If one doesn't make the attempt to identify an animal on dA the first comment is inevitably, "What is it?"
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You're welcome, it's also understandable too. I'm also not an expert at identifying insects either but
they are fascinating to learn about
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I thought the complementary colours of the petal and the fly's body worked OK. The eye contrasted to create a focal point making the composition work 
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yeah it looks good to me!
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Thank you It's amazing what details of nature a macro-lens can capture
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Too right - but frustratingly short on depth of field!
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They are difficult to spot when resting on flowers but hovering in the air they are a wonder to behold
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The sweat bee is a true bee - this is a fly with that classic ability to hover in the air, hence the name. You have Eupeodes americanus, the American hoverfly, that is found throughout North America en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eupeodes…
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Beautiful tiny insect, he is little bit similar to wasp, but smaller. I often see in the garden.
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They are common across Europe. We even had some in the garden last week in the sun we had
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Yes 
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Wow that is an amazing shot. you could see every detail of him in this shot. I thought it was a bee . Awesome as always friend 
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It's actually a simple, harmless fly but uses the trick of displaying markings of a more threatening species to warn off predators. Glad you liked him...
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I wasn't sure but he fooled me lol. Neat trick! Came out awesome.
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Thank you for that compliment... 
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I see something similar in North America, their camouflage is quite striking but they indeed hover in place and are quite cute.
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That ability to hover is dramatic. Their bodies are totally motionless even in a breeze - incredible!
Is this the hoverfly you refer to 
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You are right of course 
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Lovely to receive an opinion like that. It's not everyone who likes a bug, even one as pretty as this fellow...
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My pleasure! It is an incredible and awesome capture!
Hoverflies are lovely and quite beneficial to nature.
Their larvae especially - they eat aphids!
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Not many know that. Two lovely insects both eat the aphids, the hoverfly larve and the ladybird as well
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Yes, ladybird beetles are voracious! They are very wonderful too!
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