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Little wasp sunbaking · **3 Likes**

This little wasp was having a sunbake in my backyard. The insect world is diverse and very beautiful IMO.

Thanks for taking a peek !!

slowpez · 04-23-2016, 06:37 AM - **1 Like**

Great detail. Nicely captured.

Unregistered User 8 · 04-23-2016, 06:45 AM

Originally posted by slowpez

Great detail. Nicely captured.

Thanks Susan. He/she was a very good little model. Held still until I took the shot, then was gone in a flash.

clicksworth · 04-23-2016, 09:32 AM - **1 Like**

Good looking insects, and harmless. They just try to look like wasps.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoverfly

bertwert · 04-23-2016, 10:35 AM

Nice shot!
Except that isn't a wasp, it is a fly that imitates a wasp as so not to be threatened.

Janse · 04-23-2016, 02:03 PM

Tack sharp wasp. :-)

Unregistered User 8 · 04-23-2016, 03:04 PM

Originally posted by clicksworth

Good looking insects, and harmless. They just try to look like wasps.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoverfly

Originally posted by bertwert

Nice shot!
Except that isn't a wasp, it is a fly that imitates a wasp as so not to be threatened.

Thanks for the comments and thanks for the heads up. I'm a sheetmetal worker by day, so I ain't no entomologist !!!

Originally posted by Janse

Tack sharp wasp. :-)

Thank you Janse. The K-3, 100 macro WR are a great team I find.

Last edited by Unregistered User 8; 04-23-2016 at 11:59 PM.

**goatsNdonkey** · 04-24-2016, 12:15 PM - **1 Like**

pjv, any entomologist would be proud to have taken such a great picture. The glistening wings and body, the line of tiny hairs along the sides of the abdomen, even excellent detail in the surface of the leaf near where the insect is perched--all quite amazing.

But the critter whose portrait you captured is quite a trickster, since its game is to make anyone in its neighborhood that eats small flying insects THINK it is a wasp and avoid it fearing a sting. The little fellow is actually a fly. Note that he only has one pair of wings, while wasps have two pair. A lot of people wouldn't have gotten close enough to him, after hearing the buzz and seeing the yellow and black stripes, to ever count the wings. Every time that happens it means this adaptation for survival is working.

The imitation, by coloration or behavior, of a dangerous species by a non-dangerous one, is one of those especially fascinating aspects of nature. Another example: the non-poisonous fox snake will vibrate the tip of its tail if it feels threatened. If it is in dry grass, it sounds enough like a rattle snake to send humans running. When they stop running, they are too far away to tell that it wasn't a rattlesnake, and they have quite a story to tell their friends.

bertwert · 04-24-2016, 12:16 PM

Originally posted by pjv

I'm a sheetmetal worker by day, so I ain't no entomologist !!!

Fair enough!

Unregistered User 8 · 04-24-2016, 01:24 PM

Originally posted by goatsNdonkey

pjv, any entomologist would be proud to have taken such a great picture

Thank you for the very kind words goatsNdonkey. Much appreciated.

**goatsNdonkey** · 04-25-2016, 06:04 AM

For some reason clicksworth's and bertwert's posts didn't display in the thread when I started writing mine -- musta been some hiccup in the cyberspere -- or I might not have reexplained what they already said. I had forgotten the term "hover fly" for them. I remember that my dad called them sweat bees when I was a little kid and afraid of them, saying that they didn't sting. Though there are some tiny bees where I live now that will sting, but they don't look much like the hover flies.

**FozzFoster** · 07-24-2018, 11:21 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by pjv

This little wasp was having a sunbake in my backyard. The insect world is diverse and very beautiful IMO.

Thanks for taking a peek !!

great detail! very well done!

Unregistered User 8
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04-23-2016, 06:37 AM - 1 Like	#2
slowpez Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: South Carolina, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 18,461	Great detail. Nicely captured.

04-23-2016, 06:45 AM	#3
Unregistered User 8 Closed Account Join Date: Mar 2015 Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,694 Original Poster	Originally posted by slowpez Great detail. Nicely captured. Thanks Susan. He/she was a very good little model. Held still until I took the shot, then was gone in a flash.

04-23-2016, 09:32 AM - 1 Like	#4
clicksworth Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Photos: Albums Posts: 150	Good looking insects, and harmless. They just try to look like wasps. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoverfly

04-23-2016, 10:35 AM	#5
bertwert Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Golden, BC Posts: 15,172	Nice shot! Except that isn't a wasp, it is a fly that imitates a wasp as so not to be threatened.

04-23-2016, 02:03 PM	#6
Janse Inactive Account Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 4,460	Tack sharp wasp. :-)

04-23-2016, 03:04 PM	#7
Unregistered User 8 Closed Account Join Date: Mar 2015 Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,694 Original Poster	Originally posted by clicksworth Good looking insects, and harmless. They just try to look like wasps. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoverfly Originally posted by bertwert Nice shot! Except that isn't a wasp, it is a fly that imitates a wasp as so not to be threatened. Thanks for the comments and thanks for the heads up. I'm a sheetmetal worker by day, so I ain't no entomologist !!! Originally posted by Janse Tack sharp wasp. :-) Thank you Janse. The K-3, 100 macro WR are a great team I find. Last edited by Unregistered User 8; 04-23-2016 at 11:59 PM.

04-24-2016, 12:15 PM - 1 Like	#8
goatsNdonkey Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Fulton County, Illinois Posts: 3,736	pjv, any entomologist would be proud to have taken such a great picture. The glistening wings and body, the line of tiny hairs along the sides of the abdomen, even excellent detail in the surface of the leaf near where the insect is perched--all quite amazing. But the critter whose portrait you captured is quite a trickster, since its game is to make anyone in its neighborhood that eats small flying insects THINK it is a wasp and avoid it fearing a sting. The little fellow is actually a fly. Note that he only has one pair of wings, while wasps have two pair. A lot of people wouldn't have gotten close enough to him, after hearing the buzz and seeing the yellow and black stripes, to ever count the wings. Every time that happens it means this adaptation for survival is working. The imitation, by coloration or behavior, of a dangerous species by a non-dangerous one, is one of those especially fascinating aspects of nature. Another example: the non-poisonous fox snake will vibrate the tip of its tail if it feels threatened. If it is in dry grass, it sounds enough like a rattle snake to send humans running. When they stop running, they are too far away to tell that it wasn't a rattlesnake, and they have quite a story to tell their friends.

04-24-2016, 12:16 PM	#9
bertwert Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Golden, BC Posts: 15,172	Originally posted by pjv I'm a sheetmetal worker by day, so I ain't no entomologist !!! Fair enough!

04-24-2016, 01:24 PM	#10
Unregistered User 8 Closed Account Join Date: Mar 2015 Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,694 Original Poster	Originally posted by goatsNdonkey pjv, any entomologist would be proud to have taken such a great picture Thank you for the very kind words goatsNdonkey. Much appreciated.

04-25-2016, 06:04 AM	#11
goatsNdonkey Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Fulton County, Illinois Posts: 3,736	For some reason clicksworth's and bertwert's posts didn't display in the thread when I started writing mine -- musta been some hiccup in the cyberspere -- or I might not have reexplained what they already said. I had forgotten the term "hover fly" for them. I remember that my dad called them sweat bees when I was a little kid and afraid of them, saying that they didn't sting. Though there are some tiny bees where I live now that will sting, but they don't look much like the hover flies.

07-24-2018, 11:21 AM - 1 Like	#12
FozzFoster Custom User Title Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Alberta Photos: Albums Posts: 6,808	Originally posted by pjv This little wasp was having a sunbake in my backyard. The insect world is diverse and very beautiful IMO. Thanks for taking a peek !! great detail! very well done!

Macro Little wasp sunbaking

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