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larose forest photos | all galleries >> INSECTS (INSECTA) (28 Galleries) >> Flies (Diptera) (38 Galleries) >> Hover Flies (Family: Syrphidae) >> Hover Flies (Genus: Spilomyia) > Hover fly (Spilomyia sayi)
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23-AUG-2013 Christine Hanrahan

Hover fly (Spilomyia sayi)

Cumberland Forest. Another wasp mimic, just like the previous photo. In fact, this species is in the same Genus, Spilomyia. Many hover flies are superb wasp mimics, pretending to be yellowjackets, paper wasps (as here), bald-faced hornets, ichneumonids, etc. As mentioned in the previous photo, you can tell these are flies, not wasps, by the eyes and the antennae, and lack of a "wasp waist".

Canon PowerShot SX20 IS
1/200s f/3.2 at 5.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
Don26-Aug-2013 22:01
Excellent photo, Christine, and interesting flies.
Karen Stuebing24-Aug-2013 21:59
Interesting description. They really do look wasp like. Super capture. V.
Carol Rollins24-Aug-2013 15:03
Great shot with wonderful details.
Tom LeRoy24-Aug-2013 14:03
Natures impersonators! A fine shot of these two. V
hayl24-Aug-2013 13:38
Terrific shot - and a natural history lesson too.
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