# 2 Hoverfly

i feel blessed that i am given space to grow plants. And this activity of growing has from time to time brought me up close and personal with species i am seeing only now. Quite a revelation !
i see them often and sometimes must admit feeling somewhat reluctant to disturb their daily chores. What if my curiosity gets in the way of the creature and their instincitive defence mechanism sees me running for cover.
So then that's how i came to notice these beautiful creatures when at first i thought they were bees/wasps and that i should stay away from them lest they should sting me.

 

 

Tiny creatures with brilliant stripes. Iridescent pair of wings and the body that shines like it was made of glass. But that was not the only feature that attracted me towards these bee looking creatures. What fascinated me the most was the locomotion part. Yeah !
In so many ways it reminded me of helicopters and the way it hovered around the flower or foliage it fancied.
For days have i chased them keeping them at arms length at first because i thought they might sting me if i got too close. Last year i was stung twice by wasps (accidently) and i still cringe at the memory of the pain and the swelling. Not to miss the itching that happens as the spot heals.
Then thanks to a couple of my just by chance shots plus some search on the internet that i got a bit more daring.
Hover Fly that's what they are called. Friendly tiny creatures that hover around the plants in search of nectar and pollen.
They move like they are swimming in the air. Just gliding in and out of the flower beds and among the foliage like an expert diver. The speed of the wings with the day light all around they apparently seem wingless. Actually it is quite difficult to make comparisons. Sometimes you feel like they are like divers in the atmospheric sea and other times they resemble like those helicopters in the sky. The blades seen chopping the wind not as pair of blades but something moving just too fast to let the eye discern.
However the uniqueness of this particular species of 'Flower Fly' truly is in the way it hovers. Suspended with their glassy bodies in the air. Harmless and quiet. As if meditating/levitating. Their beautiful pair of fragile fairy wings hardly visible to the discerning eye at times. At other times if you are close enough maybe you can spot the rapidly moving wings.

 

Sometimes i wonder how we knew right from childhood about bees and missed knowing about these. Maybe we weren't looking or maybe there was no time to look. i thank Heavens. For the exact time when i see more now even though without my glasses i am partially blind.

 

 

Thank you for going through my pictures and what i had to say.

i also thank the mentioned below site for giving me the FAQs on this among the so many of the Flower Flies.

http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/mbcn/kyf211.html

i am still chasing Hover flies to shoot for myself a perfect clear picture of the one sleek brilliantly striped body flanked by rapidly moving wings.

Wish me luck then !