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Hoverflies - a sequence of hoverfly macros. Saturday was a gorgeous day to be out looking for birds; unfortunately I had to spend most of the day at home waiting for a tradesman. It seemed that there were no birds, butterflies or even bees in the yard, but there were numerous tiny hoverflies less than a quarter of an inch long. So.... I spent a few hours chasing these amazing fliers with a macro lens equipped with extension tubes. This series shows the results.
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Hoverfly Volucella zonaria on a mission. Wonderful to watch this sequence but the biggest surprise was when she passed another volucella zonaria female coming out having already laid her eggs
Hoverflies, sometimes called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggots) eat a wide range of foods. In some species, the larvae are saprotrophs, eating decaying plant and animal matter in the soil or in ponds and streams. In other species, the larvae are insectivores and prey on aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects. -Wikipedia
Hoverfly feeding on a gerbera flower. Focus stacked using zerene. As an extension to putting open crocus flowers in a sunny camellia bush, I tried putting a cut gerbera flower on the bush. I carefully put some spots of sugar/honey syrup on the flower. A hoverfly did find the flower but promptly ignored the offered syrup in preference for the pollen