Aim

Today was another day of trying to cram quarts of activity into pint pots of time, and I only managed about ten minutes in the garden with the camera. I didn't have high hopes at the start, invertebrate-wise, because it had only recently stopped raining and it was still dark, gloomy and a bit cold. Luckily it turned out that there were a few inverts about, and I finished my brisk trot around the "flower beds" with several candidates for tonight's post. 

This female Rhingia campestris obliged by suddenly emerging from the depths of a pulmonaria flower, inside which she'd been completely hidden, just as I was walking past. They're very small - maybe 7mm long, if you don't count the hugely extendable proboscis - and quite quick, but the abdomen looks reddish in flight, and it was this that caught my attention. I skidded to a halt and waited and watched to see where she was heading, because they're skittish and don't like being overtly followed. Then, once she'd selected this Green Alkanet flower, it was just a question of creeping slowly closer, so as not to alarm her into flight. Though they're dumpy, and I've heard people describe them as ugly, I'm very fond of the snout hoverflies, and I'm always intrigued to watch the way they use that extraordinary tongue. It's specialised to take advantage of tubular flowers like this (though both Rhingia species seem equally at home feeding from open blooms), and they often fly with it partially extended, approaching their target flower and inserting the proboscis with perfect aim before they've even landed.

And now to the results of this week's Tiny Tuesday challenge. It was my last week of hosting for the foreseeable future, and you made it an especially memorable one: I've really struggled to choose my favourites. However, I eventually made it, and (in no particular order) my hearts for the week go to:

ChrisP

DawnP 

AH14 

Incredibish 

MidgeholeDave 

And this week, again in no particular order, my Honourable Mentions go to:

KangaZu 

Busman 

TimG 

Maureen6002 

AnnieBelle

OpenEyed 

So that's it for me. Next month your host will be the lovely Incredibish, and I hope you'll all keep playing, to give plenty of interesting images to keep him entertained, and to make his job as tricky as mine has been!