Master and mimic
Conopid, Thick-headed Fly, Wilcox, Swamp Milkweed
The hope that I'd run into the first of the Monarch caterpillars lured me out of COVID-19 isolation to sample the pleasures of Wilcox Park in downtown Westerly. Given the proximity of a number of people who had the same idea, I wore a mask, which meant I couldn't wear my glasses and so experienced an impressionistic trek. At least I could see through the lens, and as I focused on a Swamp Milkweed in full, alas, Monarch-less, bloom, I noticed something else intriguing: a wasp-mimic known, and I am not making this up, as a Thick-headed Fly. These members of the fly family Conopidae are harmless, but the resemblance to the real thing, which is flying in, stage left, to check out the interloper, is certainly impressive.