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these are flitting around the sunflowers but never land on them. looks like a fly but with antennae. any ideas?

ok, i stand corrected. this one did land.

It's hard to tell from your picture but if you see it hover in mid-air like a hummingbird its probably a hover fly. I believe most people in the U.S. call them flower flies. If it is a hover fly, it isn't harmful as it helps pollinate flowers and in the larval forms eats pests insects.

here it is bigger. i'll google 'hover flies'.. thanks for the info.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bana,

No idea, but that's a great picture.


ve

edited: I googled hoverfly and it does resemble them...striped body and all. The legs looked like bee legs to me but the eyes are all wrong.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: vera ellen,

I haven't got a clue but I really think you just want to show off what a great photographer you have become! Great Pictures!!!
Upon further examination I think it looks like a "Bee". Doesn't it have a striped belly? Bees love sunflowers!!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Wavy,

quote:

Originally posted by Wavy:
I haven't got a clue but I really think you just want to show off what a great photographer you have become! Great Pictures!!!
Upon further examination I think it looks like a "Bee". Doesn't it have a striped belly? Bees love sunflowers!!!

oh wavy.. you always make me laugh out loud. i did get lucky with that photo.. vera ellen is my photographer guru and i've been paying strict attention to her examples... hers and all the other expert shutterbugs around here. all i can say is that for once the stabilizer on my camera worked!

ve.. the legs do look like bees but the bodies kind of like flies. unlike bees that land from flower to flower.. these guys just keep flying; when they land, it is not in the pollen part of the flowers, and they only hang out around the sunflowers.. nowhere else in the garden. very wierd.

Sheesh...I would have guessed a honey bee but since it's not looking for pollen???

A killer zombie bee?

quote:

Originally posted by vera ellen:
No idea, but that's a great picture.


ve

edited: I googled hoverfly and it does resemble them...striped body and all. The legs looked like bee legs to me but the eyes are all wrong.

It may be some type of drone bee if there are hairs on the legs. A drone is a male bee and it has eyes twice as large as worker and queen bee. There are so many types of bees and flies we would need an etymologist to know for certain. It could still be a hover fly depending on how long the hairs on the legs are. If it can hover like a hummingbird then it is a hover fly. Don't be confused if you see pictures of hover flies that are dissimilar. There are many types of hover flies. Some resemble bees and others resemble wasps.

Could it be this?


Long Horned Bee