Hoverfly

It was a beautiful spring day here yesterday - bright and still, although cold. So I put on a warm coat and scarf and took lots of photos. I was pleased with this one of a hoverfly.

Hoverflies deliberately mimic bees and wasps which fools some people who can't tell them apart. My kids get in a panic when one comes near them. I always tell them "If it's hovering, it's a hoverfly". Bees and wasps don't hover like that. This one was stationary on a marsh marigold flower, but it was still easy to tell what it was. The biggest clue is the eyes. Flies have fly eyes. Bee and wasp eyes are different. Here's a nice closeup of a hoverfly's head. And here's a worker bee head for comparison. The feelers are another giveaway - bees have long busy feelers, flies have short stubby ones. Another giveaway is the wings. Flies have two wings; the Latin name for the order is diptera which means "two wings". Bees always have four. And it's clearly not a wasp as it has a fat waist, not a wasp waist. I don't have a wasp waist either, so I won't hold that against it.

I like to see bees in my garden because they do a lot of good pollinating plants, resulting in more flowers and fruit. Hoverflies are also welcome visitors because they pollinate as well, and their larvae are hungry predators who gobble up aphids and thrips. It's all biodiversity, so it's all good.