Hover fly on coneflower
Syrphidae
Hoverfly · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 12 July 2026
A hover fly on a coneflower in the July border, one of the drone flies, Eristalis, that mimic honeybees in gardens across the world - though I'd want a clearer view of the wing veins to be sure of the genus.
Big touching compound eyes and short stubby antennae rather than a bee's longer ones are the giveaway that this is a fly, despite the yellow-and-black doing its best to suggest otherwise. The mimicry is purely visual: the flight itself, all sudden stops and hovering, looks nothing like a bee's.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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