I used to think that all black-and-yellow insects circling around flowers were bees, but quickly learned that many of them are flower flies (also known as hoverflies). There are a lot of different varieties of flower flies, but I think that they all belong to the Syrphidae family.
Yesterday when I was visiting Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland, I managed to capture this image of a flower fly just as it had inserted its head into a small purple flower. It’s a pretty simple composition, but I really like the way that it turned out, with a good amount of detail on the fly’s body.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Amazing detail Mike. Great shot 😀
I really like this one too!!!
Amazing picture!
I’m fascinated by the ‘hairs’ on the flower and the light on the insect’s wings
I can’t remember if I might have used the little pop-up flash on my camera to add a bit of light. Normally if I do, the background goes black or the colors get really overexposed. There are lots of cool aspects of this image and you’ve pointed out a couple of them. It’s gratifying to see that you took the time to look closely at the photo.
I used to think they were bees too. While flyfishing in a small stream in northern Minnesota, they would cruise down above the water and stop just a foot or so in front of my face and just, well, hover there, as if studying me. I came to expect them and was disappointed when they didn’t appear. They are now among my very favorite insects. This is a beautiful portrait, Mike!
Thanks, Gary. It’s cool the way that certain animals, birds, or insects can evoke memories of certain places and times. As I poked around on the internet, I learned that there are almost 900 different hoverflies in North America alone.
Wonderful gossamer wings and all so sharp in the right places
Thanks, Diana. Taking action shots of insects this close makes focusing a real challenge. I tried to choose my angle carefully and was happy that I was able to get as much sharpness as I did. I like the way that the colors and texture of the flower are so much softer than the fly, which helps it to stand out more in the image.
I like that shot too. Nice detail on his wings. I didn’t know until this summer that wing venation is important in identifying many insects.
Doesn’t the pattern on the fly’s back look like one of those optical illusions, like a vase or two faces?
Now that you mention it, it does look like one of those kind of illustrations–the power of suggestion at work.