Look closely and you’ll see a hoverfly (and its shadow) showing why it got that name:
These insects also are known as drone flies and flower flies. This one appears to be a green lucent fly (Didea alneti) that’s less than one-half an inch long. It’s in the process of deciding whether to visit the working parts of a poppy. These are true flies (Diptera) that have interesting characteristics.
They can hover virtually still except for their high-speed wings; they apparently can hold an in-air position better than all or most other insects and even hummingbirds. This may be part of a complex defensive system that makes it difficult to notice them.
But, if noticed. most hoverflies are designed to scare – they’re banded to mimic bees, hornets and other insects that can sting. Yet, hoverflies can’t sting. When they sense danger (like a looming photographer), they also can buzz like a bee or hornet. Most significant to the big nature picture is the fact that hoverflies are very important pollinators in the propagation of flora.
As a bonus, I’m adding below an image of another important banded pollinator approaching a favorite food source, common milkweed:
It’s a tri-colored bumblebee (Bombus ternarius). And, it can deliver not only a painful sting, it can sting repeatedly. Unlike honeybees, bumble bee workers’ stingers have no harpoon-like barbs at their ends that remain imbedded in a victim, which disembowels the stinging honeybees. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on July 15 (bee) and 17 (fly), 2024.)