I heard a cry: ‘There’s a funny looking fly in here – it looks like a bee! And (naturally) I picked up my camera on the way and made haste to see what was up.
Son No. 2′s girlfriend had found this little guy on my kitchen floor, and he was jolly lucky. I think the only reason he didn’t suffer a rapid and catastrophic compression leading to permanent loss of function – ie, death by stomping – was that she thought he was probably dead already.
I thought he was cute.
I worked out pretty quickly that he wasn’t a bee, but a member of the hoverfly family. Further research suggests that he – or she – is possibly eristalis tenax, a common hoverfly which is not only completely harmless, but whose larvae are the rat-tailed maggots which do such a fine clean-up job at the bottom of ponds.
He wasn’t dead, but he was very slow. I think he’d been trapped in the house for some time, existing on what he could find among the flowers in various vases and the moisture in the kitchen, but he wasn’t doing well. I only hope the relocation to the Great Outdoors at midnight wasn’t too much of a shock for him.
Incidentally, you might notice he’s been getting tangled up with a certain amount of dust.  This should be of some considerable comfort to those of you who think my house is spotless. Ha. I told you it wasn’t.
Nevertheless, I shall have Words with my cleaning lady, who apparently didn’t extend her efforts underneath the kitchen dresser this week!
Oh my gosh, Jay, a fantastic photo of the fuzzy little guy… did you lay down on the kitchen floor to get him at that angle and he didn’t move? I do beeelieve he was looking for a little publicity. Hope he fares well in the outdoors. I know things are starting to wake up here now that the temps are staying a little warmer. They are a bit slow in the beginning, but make up for it later by buzzing rings around you while you try to get a look at them. Let me know if you would like some mosquitoes….I can get you some pretty cheap. Minnesota is pretty famous for those.
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And now I know a lot more about the Drone Fly than I did before, thanks for the link Jay.
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What a fabulous photo Jay! I bet when you were down on his level he must have wondered what the beautiful burgundy/pink flower was that tempted him. I hope you dusted down his little feet before you sent him on his way.
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Poor little thing. he does look a bit worse for wear there. Still I bet the midnight air perked him up a bit :O) Great photo too!
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Top macro and brave effort revealing your dust to the world. God knows what’s under my dresser!
My what big eyes he has
Aw, what a lil’ sweetie. I am very impressed by your insect knowledge! I would have thought the lil’ cutie was a bee too, hope it survived. And, I am so glad to know I am not the only one who tries to rescue critters trapped inside.
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When I did a post about my toads, I was too ashamed to leave the dust etc that had accumulated on the toad while she was hopping across the carpet, so I photoshopped it out. And they say that the camera never lies – it does my my house!
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What a wonderful photo. I would love to see the photo of you taking that photo.
My mother-in-law (not my favourite person in the world) has a great story to liven up parties: her mad daughter-in-law (moi) even rescues wasps, hahaha!
True. I do. Once when she was visiting us, a wasp landed in my drink and I carefully fished it out and put it in the sun to dry and sober up.
Oh, how hilarious
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Sistertex – Thanks! I knelt, and used the nice large viewfinder screen to frame and focus the shot. He didn’t move, because he’d been trapped for a while and was probably dehydrated or something. I think I’ll pass on the mosquitoes .. even though my goldfish do love the larvae!
Granny – Oh, that’s funny! My hair as a flower! LOL!
I’m afraid I didn’t dust his feet. I didn’t have a little paintbrush handy and it’s the only way I could have done it without injuring him. He’d have cleaned them off soon enough once he felt better!
Babs – He – or she – was most unhappy indoors. Once she was outside on a flower, she immediately looked a little brighter! Everyone say ‘Awwww!’
Baino – Thanks! Well, it’s difficult for me to get down low enough to actually look under the dresser, so I hate to think what’s under mine, too! LOL!
Thank heaven for digital cameras with nice big viewfinding screens, huh?
Ann – Doesn’t he have big eyes! Actually, I think it’s female, because their eyes are closer together.
Aussie – If you look closely enough, and listen, and watch their flight patterns, you can tell the difference. It’s about observation, mostly.
You save critters trapped inside too? Good for you!
DBM – I have done the photoshopping thing, but not this time!
Caroliina – Thank you! You can’t see me taking the photo cos no-one took that picture! LOL!
You save wasps? That’s nice! I save wasps as long as they aren’t indoors. Once they’re indoors, they can be very, very persistent and OH seems to be allergic to their stings.
Love the photo, esp his/hers eyes .. really cool !
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I would have mistaken him for a bee too. Great photo.
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Jay, seriously, you should have been an entymologist like DBM!! You know far too much about creepy crawlies! x
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Lovely shot. Focus, detail, fab. Did you use a flash? Seems a good depth of focus…
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Moon – Thanks! It’s truly fascinating to see their features in close up! I love macro photography. I really need a specially constructed tank of high quality glass so I can trap, photograph and release, but I don’t have one yet.
Ruth – Lots of people do! I’ve even seen the question ‘is this a fly or a bee?’ on wildlife forums.
EM – Well, you see, I was no good at maths at school, so they wouldn’t let me do the sciences at A level, either. Therefore, no university would have taken me for any kind of science based course, so no zoology of any kind for me. I did the next best thing and did my animal nursing qualifications.
Katherine – Thank you!
Yes, I did use a flash, but the depth of field isn’t that great. If you look at the two rear legs, you’ll see I’m losing focus on both. The trick is to get as much of the insect into the same plane as possible, on macro shots, unless you want to highlight a part of them, for instance, the face.
“I think the only reason he didn’t suffer a rapid and catastrophic compression leading to permanent loss of function – ie, death by stomping – was that she thought he was probably dead already.”
LOL,this reminded me of an incident I had while working as a paramedic. I had a jumper from a 26-story project building. as paramedics in NYC, we had the ability to pronounce death in cases of obvious death, which this was. While writing up the case report, I listed the diagnosis as:
“Death was as a result of concrete poisoning secondary to deceleration trauma.”
When my boss reviewed the report, he just shook his head, suppressed a laugh, and put his head on the table and said: “I can’t believe you actually wrote that.”
It was a perfectly reasonable medical diagnosis in my book.
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Aw, poor thing! I would have transported him (or her) via leaf to the great outdoors as well… and as for the dust, you wouldn’t need a macro shot to spot mine.
As well, I would Photoshop it out before posting so you wouldn’t get grossed out.
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Very cute, Jay! I saw a bee fly & a hummingbird moth at the arboretum the other day! BOTH of which look like bees to the uninitiated… No pix though…
Ooh, the lines on his wings look painted on, they are so dark and clear! Very cool. Or her wings.
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Boy, it sure does a good bee impression. When I need to get all the dust bunnies out from behind my filing cabinets, bookcases, under the bed, etc., I just borrow my cousin’s cat. He always comes out of hiding looking much like this little guy!
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