It's Rude To Mimic ...

... I was taught but this insect uses mimicry to avoid predators.

Quite a few wasps homing in on the ivy bush today. I've hardly seen any this season so far. A hornet showed up but they're quite difficult to capture. This hornet mimic hoverfly was much more accommodating. They're very impressive insects, our largest British hoverfly. They lay their eggs in wasp and hornet nests. 

Numbers of ivy bees are increasing but I didn't get a decent shot of one. 

I got on well with my stain removal task, though I had to throw the gamut of my arsenal at them. :)