I'd been scanning a patch of Swamp Milkweed blossoms in a freshwater marsh near my daughter's house, and while there were several Skipper-type butterflies and at least one Monarch enjoying the flowers, there was also a strikingly gorgeous fly working the blooms, perhaps for nectar and pollen, perhaps for prey. If it's a Syrphid, I'm going to have to wait for identification help for a couple of weeks, when my mentor returns from a field trip to South America; if, however, those picture wings point to a member of the predatory Diptera, I'm going to have to do a lot more searching. In any case, I'm temporarily on my own in the observation and ID department. Well, not entirely alone. Shortly after I noticed the fly, something else did: a Crab Spider. Quickly, the predator had its way with the stunner, and, equally fast, the color started to fade from the prey. I guess I could have collected the moribund fly, but I decided to let nature be. The photos would probably be enough to ID the players in this eternal drama.