Posts Tagged: syrphid flies

A Bee Is a Bee Is a Bee...

Remember that line in Gertrude Stein's 1913 poem, Sacred Emily: "A rose is a rose is a...

One's a fly and one's a bee. Can you tell them apart? Honey bee on the left: syrphid fly on the right. They're nectaring on Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

One's a fly and one's a bee. Can you tell them apart? Honey bee on the left: syrphid fly on the right. They're nectaring on Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Not a bee. This is a bee fly, genus Villa. It's nectaring on Mexican sunflower, genus Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Not a bee. This is a bee fly, genus Villa. It's nectaring on Mexican sunflower, genus Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This Is Definitely a Magnet for Bees and Flower Flies

The bush germander (Teucrium fruticans) is definitely a great fall-winter plant that's a...

Honey bee foraging in bush germander. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey bee foraging in bush germander. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Syrphid fly, aka flower fly or hover fly, visiting germander. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Syrphid fly, aka flower fly or hover fly, visiting germander. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Just Hovering

Every insect looks prettier when it lands on a tower of jewels (Echiium wildpretti).When in full...

Syrphid Fly

SYRPHID FLY, aka flower fly, sips nectar from a tower of jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-Up

BEAUTY of a syrphid fly on a tower of jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Patience in the Garden

Patience. That's what it takes to capture images of syrphids, aka flower or hover flies. They are...

Hovering

SYRPHID or flower fly aims for a cactus blossom. A high shutter speed slows the wing action. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Mouthparts

MOUTHPARTS of a syrphid or flower fly, frozen in time and space. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

If It Looks Like a Duck....

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck, it's probably a duck. If it...

Flying in

FLYING IN--A syrphid or flower fly heads for a newly opened cactus blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Knobbed antennae

SYRPHID FLY has a specialized bristle or arista on the end of each antenna. It looks like a knob. In comparison, the honey bee has long antennae bent at a right angle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Nectaring

NECTARING--A syrphid fly nectars on a cactus blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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