The flower and the fly

Pretty things.

I’m in the middle of prelims and also a rather prolonged fever but I thought I’d check in before November ended.

Plus now I can stare at this pretty flower and the stripey fly I saw in Argentina.  I don’t know what kind of fly it is but it’s very striking.  Looks like it’s a nectar feeder.  VanEngelsdorp and Mexner recently estimated the global value of insect pollination at US$ 212 billion, or about 10% of the global value of agricultural production (2010).  There, I even included an insect fact.

Shh, only pretty flower-flies now.

*edit* Thanks kindly to Morgan Jackson and Joel Kits in the comments for identifying this as a bee fly (Bombyliidae) in the genus Poecilognathus.  Bee flies are really really cool little flies whose young generally parasitize other insects.