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Index of Subjects Angus, Jean, others, Very nice pictures Angus, but when the mimic is very good how do you know which is the mimic and which the model? As devil's advocate on this, it doesn't look like the usual syrphid fly mimics I've seen here (going by the antennae) so presumably it would have to be a stratiomyid (Stratiomyidae, soldier flies, the other group with many wasp mimics): this does fit with the club-like antennae, but which also perhaps could be hymenopteran, of a mud-dauber maybe. To me, the extreme waist and extremely pointy back end look more wasp-like, features that strats don't usually copy well (less of a waist and a rounded abdominal tip). There's enough motion blur due to take-off that you can't see how many wings there are (looks like there could be two pairs but impossible to be sure), and likewise can't see whether there are halteres or not. So from the one picture alone, to me it could be either a wasp or or a mimetic fly. Did you get a good look at it while it was stationary to resolve this, or did you get other pictures that you could put up? The other one on the flower appears to a biggish tachinid, also a great picture. Steve Choc Lake, Halifax. ***************************** Quoting Angus MacLean <angusmcl@ns.sympatico.ca>: > Usually the secret to good photos is recognizing the moment & > reacting to it. Other times luck plays a big role. Such was the case > with these two pics. > > This one catches the subject ready to lift off. One can almost feel > the tension as it gets ready. (If your monitor is capable, click the > "original size"). > > http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=238045972&size=m > > This one is in the same vein but has an aesthetic quality to it. > (Again click "original" for a larger pic). > > http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=238045953&size=m > > Angus > > -- Stephen R. Shaw Ph.D. Dept of Psychology & Neuroscience Dalhousie University 1355 Oxford Street Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J1 e-mail: srshaw@dal.ca phone: 1-902-494-2047 fax: 1-902-494-6585
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