I scratched and scratched my head to try to think of a good image for Halloween and I finally hit on the ingenious Syrphid fly, pictured to the right. Also called hover flies, these guys are in costume so to speak all year-round. They mimic wasps and bees (which sting) when in truth they're only a bunch of flies (which don't sting). There are hundreds of syrphid fly species so I'm not sure exactly which one this is, but it's small, even for a fly. In the summer you can almost always find syrphids hovering around flowers since, like real bees, they feed on nectar and pollen. Bear that in mind in case any come by tonight for a treat.
Friday, October 31, 2008
The Syrphid Fly
I scratched and scratched my head to try to think of a good image for Halloween and I finally hit on the ingenious Syrphid fly, pictured to the right. Also called hover flies, these guys are in costume so to speak all year-round. They mimic wasps and bees (which sting) when in truth they're only a bunch of flies (which don't sting). There are hundreds of syrphid fly species so I'm not sure exactly which one this is, but it's small, even for a fly. In the summer you can almost always find syrphids hovering around flowers since, like real bees, they feed on nectar and pollen. Bear that in mind in case any come by tonight for a treat.
