Spilomyia alcimus, Hornet Fly

When a Yellow Jacket shows up on the Oak-leaf Hydrangea blossoms, the typical response among the pollinators, be they beetles, butterflies, or bees, is to take to the air ASAP. No use winding up as a meat-eating predator's dinner. I fully understand the panic—I don't stick around either. No use risking a very painful sting. But in the past several years, I've worked on suppressing my "fright and flight" response in favor of a "wait and see" strategy. This happened as a result of learning that not all that appears to be yellow-jacketed actually requires an escape plan. In fact, some "yellow jackets" are actually harmless flower flies dressed by evolution in provocative clothing. So it is with the Broad-banded Hornet Fly, a remarkable mimic, right down to its buzz, that has started to appear on the flowers. Not only do the other pollinators keep their distance, perhaps enabling Spilomyia alcimus to get the best foraging spots, but potential predators stay away, too. Naturalists, however, can't help moving in for a closer look, particularly at those banded eyes.