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Posts Tagged: syrphid
Say 'Hi' to a Fly on a Friday
If you stand perfectly still and don't make any jerky movements, you can usually get a close-up image of a black syrphid fly, a Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum. It's Friday Fly Day and this one was nectaring on a...
A Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee, Apis mellifera, on a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's Friday Fly Day: How About a Mexican Cactus Fly?
It's Friday Fly Day, when folks post images of flies. Flies seem to the entomological equivalent of Rodney Dangerfield's "I-don't-get-no-respect" quote. So how about a black syrphid fly, a Mexican cactus...
A black syrphid fly, a Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, foraging on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Today's Honorary Bee Image Award Goes to...a Fly
Today's Honorary Bee Image Award goes to...drum roll...an image of a humble hoverfly appearing on the National Geographic Facebook page. The caption reads "A bee sits on a marigold flower in Coronado National Forest, Arizona, USA." Bee? Umm,...
A National Geographic Facebook image shows a hover fly masquerading as a bee.
A drone fly, Eristalis tenax, sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. It is often mistaken for a bee. Eristalis is a large genus of hoverflies, family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee, Apis mellifera, sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pink Sugar and a Syrphid
Who doesn't like "Pink Sugar?" No, not the sweetener. The brilliantly colored Arctotis "Pink Sugar," also known as a pink African daisy. "The genus name Arctotis is derived from Greek words 'arktos', which means "a bear" and 'otos' meaning...
A syrphid fly forages on an Arctotis "Pink Sugar" African daisy in Vacaville. Note the raindrops on the blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Syrphid Flies Are Pollinators, Too
Sometimes overlooked as pollinators are the syrphid flies, also known as "hover flies" or "flower flies." Unfortunately, they are often mistaken for honey bees. Hey, if it's a critter on a flower, it's a bee, right? Not necessarily! Syrphid flies...
A dorsal view of a syprhid fly sunning itself on a leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The syprhid fly senses danger and slips under a leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
