Mimicry

I had absolutely no idea what this was when it flew past my head as I was stalking an Orange Tip butterfly: it looked like one of the smaller bumblebees - Bombus hortorum maybe - but it wasn't moving like a bee. Deflected from the butterfly I followed it to rest, and got enough clear photos to be able to identify it from my hoverfly bible - the ID then being confirmed by the UK Hoverflies people on Facebook.

Eriozona syrphoides is a European species which isn't common anywhere in the UK; it was first reported here in Wales in the 1960s, and has spread to the north of England and parts of Scotland, but is scarce through the Midlands and south of England. In fact it's probable that if I'd reported it through iRecord instead of directly to UK Hoverflies, the record would have been auto-flagged as improbable. As you can see it's one of the better bee mimics among the hoverflies, looking perfectly capable of defending itself - whereas in fact it's quite harmless, unless you're one of the aphids on which its larvae feed; the adults feed on nectar from a variety of plants such as scabious and heather.

OK - that's enough about the Tiny Triumph within my day - on to this week's Tiny Tuesday results.

I remembered about five minutes into looking through the entries why I don't volunteer to host this challenge more often. After my first pass I still had 26 images in contention, so if yours isn't one of the winners, please don't think that I dismissed it out of hand: I had to make several passes before I reduced the list of possible winners to a sensible number. The ones I've chosen all combine being very good photos with conveying interesting information about the subject which couldn't be seen in a more distant shot.

My hearts this week go to:
Trisharooni
PipersMom
KevinMaskell
AJC
Hanulli

And my Honourable Mentions go to:
suejay50
Wharfedale Bex
LesleyAlford
Beckett
Incredibish
And finally, for an image which is at least as abstract as it is macro, but so good I just couldn't walk past it: Inverculain.

I hope you'll all play again next week!