Hoverfly ID? Shenandoah National Park near Skyline Drive

[MizBrown]

 

I spend considerable time looking on Google for something that had the black squashed hourglass with the two points but couldn't find anything exactly like that.  Flower has been ID'ed.

[gvallee]

7 hours ago, MizBrown said:

 

I spend considerable time looking on Google for something that had the black squashed hourglass with the two points but couldn't find anything exactly like that.  Flower has been ID'ed.

 

Sorry I can't help with your ID but the way I do it for spiders and birds is to find a page of experts on Facebook. Only this morning, I got an accurate ID in less than 30 sec. They compete with each other for speed and there is no mistake. Perhaps there is one for your area? Just an idea.

[MizBrown]

6 minutes ago, gvallee said:

 

Sorry I can't help with your ID but the way I do it for spiders and birds is to find a page of experts on Facebook. Only this morning, I got an accurate ID in less than 30 sec. They compete with each other for speed and there is no mistake. Perhaps there is one for your area? Just an idea.

 

Thanks.  There is a hoverfly group.  I've asked to join. 

[gvallee]

1 minute ago, MizBrown said:

 

Thanks.  There is a hoverfly group.  I've asked to join. 

 

Excellent! Good luck.

[MizBrown]

9 hours ago, gvallee said:

 

Excellent! Good luck.

 

ID'ed minutes after posting:  Eristalis transversa, now annotated in the original post in the Hoverfly group, and in my portfolio.  Thanks ever so for the suggestion.

[John Mitchell]

While on the subject of hoverflies, is there a difference between a hoverfly and a drone fly?

 

I identified this guy as a drone fly (Eristalis tenax), but I also put "hover fly" in the keywords. Should I have done that?

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by John Mitchell

[gvallee]

11 hours ago, MizBrown said:

 

ID'ed minutes after posting:  Eristalis transversa, now annotated in the original post in the Hoverfly group, and in my portfolio.  Thanks ever so for the suggestion.

 

Yeah!!! I'm so pleased for you. There are many amateurs/enthusiasts pages on FB, absolutely nothing wrong with that, but when you manage to locate a pro/nerdy one, those guys/gals are amazing. 

[MizBrown]

4 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

While on the subject of hoverflies, is there a difference between a hoverfly and a drone fly?

 

I identified this guy as a drone fly (Eristalis tenax), but I also put "hover fly" in the keywords. Should I have done that?

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eristalis_tenax

 

So both a drone fly and a hoverfly.  Most of the hoverfly articles use hoverfly as one word.

Edited July 13, 2020 by MizBrown

[John Mitchell]

2 hours ago, MizBrown said:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eristalis_tenax

 

So both a drone fly and a hoverfly.  Most of the hoverfly articles use hoverfly as one word.

 

Thanks for the link. It does sound as if drone flies, hoverflies, and flower flies are all very similar (or different names for the same insects). However, this website seems to imply that drone flies are bee mimics. Guess I'll just leave "hoverfly" in the keywords.

Edited July 13, 2020 by John Mitchell

[Russell]

3 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

Thanks for the link. It does sound as if drone flies, hoverflies, and flower flies are all very similar (or different names for the same insects). However, this website seems to imply that drone flies are bee mimics. Guess I'll just leave "hoverfly" in the keywords.

Wikipedia put it more succinctly than me so "Eristalis is a large genus of hoverflies, family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera. One of the more common species in the genus, Eristalis tenax is also known as the dronefly, because it bears a superficial resemblance to honeybee drones. "

 

So both dronefly and hoverfly are correct tags.

[MizBrown]

5 hours ago, Russell said:

Wikipedia put it more succinctly than me so "Eristalis is a large genus of hoverflies, family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera. One of the more common species in the genus, Eristalis tenax is also known as the dronefly, because it bears a superficial resemblance to honeybee drones. "

 

So both dronefly and hoverfly are correct tags.

 

 Hoverflies tend to be wasp and bee mimics. There's one that mimics yellow jackets (yellow jacket hoverfly) and some that mimic smaller wasps judging from the Facebook Hoverflies of the World group.  

 

Another name  for them is flower flies (from the Wikipedia article also, I think).  If you make your living hanging out on flowers, looking like something that can sting has advantages.

[John Mitchell]

7 hours ago, Russell said:

Wikipedia put it more succinctly than me so "Eristalis is a large genus of hoverflies, family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera. One of the more common species in the genus, Eristalis tenax is also known as the dronefly, because it bears a superficial resemblance to honeybee drones. "

 

So both dronefly and hoverfly are correct tags.

 

Thanks. That puts it all in order. Guess I should have 'syrphid fly' in my keywords as well. 

[John Mitchell]

1 hour ago, MizBrown said:

 

 Hoverflies tend to be wasp and bee mimics. There's one that mimics yellow jackets (yellow jacket hoverfly) and some that mimic smaller wasps judging from the Facebook Hoverflies of the World group.  

 

Another name  for them is flower flies (from the Wikipedia article also, I think).  If you make your living hanging out on flowers, looking like something that can sting has advantages.

 

I hovered for ages over that darn fly trying to get it in focus.

 

Bees and wasps usually leave me alone for some reason. Nonetheless, I don't think I'd make a good insect photographer.

[Betty LaRue]

I have some microscopic bee or hoverfly pollinating my tomato blooms. It’s so tiny I can’t make it out, and it tends to show up when the sun is blazing down, hotter than...well...you know. So I’m not motivated to put on my macro lens and melt for however long chasing it.  It only lands in one place for a couple of seconds, so I’d be chasing it forever.

Then I wouldn’t be able to ID it! 

[MizBrown]

This one was more or less an accident.  I was trying to photograph the flower if I remember correctly.

[Phil Robinson]

Thought it was a Syrphus ribesii, but you're probably right

Edited July 14, 2020 by Phil Robinson

[Betty LaRue]

On 13/07/2020 at 23:13, MizBrown said:

This one was more or less an accident.  I was trying to photograph the flower if I remember correctly.

MizBrown, that reminds me of a photo I took. I grew a couple of large sunflowers, and was focused on one. Just as I began pressing the shutter, a tiny bee flew on it and actually made the shot.