Hoverfly on a petunia
Syrphidae
Hoverfly · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 21 July 2024
A hoverfly working the yellow-veined throat of a petunia in the July border. Hoverflies are flies of gardens and hedgerows everywhere, feeding on nectar and pollen as adults, and a summer border in Brooklyn holds a dozen species at once.
Wasp-striped for protection it doesn't need, since it has no sting, and told from a wasp at a glance by the single pair of wings, the short antennae and the way it holds still in the air. The veining on the petal isn't decoration for our benefit: it is a nectar guide, a set of lines converging on the centre of the flower that many insects see far more strongly than we do.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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