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Hi All,
That second shot does look like a Paper Wasp; fairly large & winters
in attics.
DW
Stephen Shaw wrote:
> 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
>>
>>
>
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