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Major Eye Detail - _TNY_5796 (In Explore 29/12 2018)

I am very pleased with this portrait shot of a male marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) using that proboscis to get to the good stuff on an intensly yellow tansy (Tanacetum vulgare).

 

This is another of the shots I took in the ditch beside the road while waiting for my car to be washed.

 

How I know this is a male hoverfly? Look at the eyes and how they are touching? That's the tell. Females have a band between the eyes instead.

 

In this shot you can also see a lot of small blue spots on the thorax. I have no idea if this is part of the fly or something it has picked up elsewhere. If you know, please tell me.

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Uploaded on December 29, 2018
Taken on July 20, 2018