A Stunning Hornet Mimic

I've had two longish pottering walks today, the first of which involved nature and beauty, the second of which ended up with me walking home with a large bag of fruit from Aldi.

Too bad I now crave cheese rather than fruit. Oh well.

There was one particular hedgerow flower I don't recognise that attracted a large range of pollinators to sample its wares. The butterflies were looking a little tatty, including one of the few speckled woods I've seen this year.

Standing out amongst the buzzers and flutterers was a beautiful hornet mimic hoverfly, glowing in the morning sun. These are big old beasties, and I'm sure their campaign of mimicry is very successful. The brilliant yellow tail really stands out, and I have to say even I was carefully checking it for signs of a big old stinger, even though I was 99.9% certain of the identity of the insect.

In the park cafe garden, there was a vivid brand new painted lady sat on a flower but it didn't want to be photographed, you have to make do with a rather more faded one.

I'm sorry.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 12.08.19