A syrphid fly is perched and ready for take off.

A lot of hover flies from me lately (family Syrphidae), but I tend to run into them when I’m looking for bugs, especially around flowers. Many are afforded the protection of elaborate bee or wasp mimicry (such as yesterday’s drone fly!), and they display their false warning unabashedly. They often become quite engrossed in feeding and can be much easier to shoot than other types of flies. Amazingly adapted and beautiful creatures, they also are pretty good at living up to their common name.