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Posts Tagged: Eristalis
Day 6 of National Pollinator Week: Meet the Drone Fly
It's Day 6 of National Pollinator Week. Meet the drone fly (Eristalis tenax), often mistaken for a honey bee. The late Robbin Thorp, UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, used to jokingly call it "The H Bee," pointing to...
This drone fly (Eristalis tenax) is often mistaken for a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Case of Mistaken Identity
They can't drain your bank account. They can't open up new credit cards. They can't get medical treatment on your health insurance. But they are identity thieves, nonetheless. Meet the drone fly (Eristalis tenax), often mistaken for a honey...
Meet the drone fly (Eristalis tenax), often mistaken for a honey bee. Note the one set of wings, large eyes, stubby antennae and a distinguishing "H" on its abdomen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Drone fly nectaring on Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pollinators on the Beach? Fancy Meeting You Here
So you're walking along Doran Regional Park Beach in Sonoma County on Tuesday, Oct. 16 and thinking about the pollinators in your back yard. (Don't we all?) And then: what a delight to see. Apis mellifera (honey bees) and Eristalis tenax,...
A syrphid or hover fly, Eristalis tenax, nectaring on a sea rocket plant, Cakile maritima, on Oct. 18 at Doran Regional Park Beach, Sonoma. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Along with sand castles and beach balls and beach umbrellas, look for pollinators nectaring on sea rocket plants at the beach. Note the honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Footprints in the sand? Yes, and bees and other pollinators nectaring on sea rocket. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
European sea rocket grows in clumps or mounds on sandy beaches along the coastlines of North Africa, western Asia, and North America. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Musical Flowers: Jockeying for Position
You've heard of "musical chairs," that anxiety-driven elimination game involving chairs, music and players. When the music stops and a chair is eliminated, the players race for the remaining seats. No one wants to be the first loser. Well,...
A black syrphid fly aims for the same Mexican sunflower, occupied by another syprhid fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
I'm outta here! The hover fly (probably Eristalis tenax) lifts off. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Not giving up and still jockeying for position, the two hover flies try to claim the same flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ah, all mine. A black hover fly or Mexican cactus fly claims a Tithonia blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Fly, Oh, My!
A fly, oh, my! On the approval scale, they don't rank nearly as high as honey bees, but some are often mistaken for them. Take the Eristalis stipator, which belongs to the family Syrphidae, the hover flies. It's about the same size as a honey bee and...
A female Eristalis stipator (as identified by Martin Hauser of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, foraging on tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The female Eristalis stipator peers at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Eristalis stipator in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
See you! Off flies Eristalis stipator, heading for another blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
