{"id":116847,"date":"2023-10-07T05:00:05","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T11:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=116847"},"modified":"2026-03-16T11:41:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:41:18","slug":"black-footed-drone-fly-on-rabbitbrush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/07\/black-footed-drone-fly-on-rabbitbrush\/","title":{"rendered":"Black-footed Drone Fly On Rabbitbrush"},"content":{"rendered":"

While out in the West Desert two days ago, I photographed this adult Black-footed Drone Fly, a member of the hoverfly family, on a rabbitbrush.<\/p>\n

\"AutumnAutumn Black-footed Drone Fly \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I had been taking images of an adult Red-tailed Hawk when a drone fly suddenly flew in, landed on the rabbitbrush, and caught my eye. I have always had a fondness for hoverflies, so I shifted my lens and focused on it for a moment.<\/p>\n

I researched this hoverfly on iNaturalist<\/span><\/a> which helped me to identify the species. The United States Forest Service (USFS) reports that there are almost 900 species of the family Syrphidae in North America<\/span>. The exact number of hoverfly species in North America is unclear, but it is likely to be in the hundreds or thousands.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"AutumnAutumn Black-footed Drone Fly with inset \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

In this image, I have added an inset with the fly shown larger.<\/p>\n

There is a second out-of-focus Black-footed Drone Fly<\/span><\/a> in both photos, which flew at the one in focus and bumped it off the rabbitbrush right after this shot was taken.<\/p>\n

Hoverflies <\/strong>are masters of mimicry<\/strong> <\/span><\/h2>\n

They often have black and yellow stripes, much like bees and wasps, which helps them avoid predators who think they have the capability to sting. <\/span><\/p>\n

Adult hoverflies feed mainly on nectar and pollen, and they are one of many pollinators that feed on these resources<\/span>.<\/span> They are second only to bees in terms of their effectiveness as pollinators, and they may be more efficient than bees because they can carry pollen much further and visit a greater diversity of flowers. <\/span><\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While out in the West Desert two days ago, I photographed this adult Black-footed Drone Fly, a member of the hoverfly family, on a rabbitbrush.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14430,17262,358,26,1314],"tags":[4004,970,14431,6098,6557,7353,14434,14433,6097,14432,4620,6518,7017,12262,12261,4302,4289,6100,10452,3896,5063],"class_list":["post-116847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-footed-drone-flies","category-hoverflies","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-black-footed-drone-fly","tag-blooming","tag-blooms","tag-blossoms","tag-drone-flies","tag-drone-fly","tag-ericameria-nauseosa","tag-eristalis-hirta","tag-fall","tag-flowering","tag-foothills","tag-hoverflies","tag-hoverfly","tag-native","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-rubber-rabbitbrush","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-wildflower","tag-yellow-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t