Favoritos de dianastuder

Kleinmond winter pillar

There are loads of these on a narrow-leaved plant in an empty plot round the corner. Plant observation / interaction will follow soon, and then one day also the moth, we hope.

Below is a brief sequence of frames showing the interaction between a bee, Halictus scabiosae, and a fly I cannot identify beyond subfamily Empidinae.
The bee is completely focused on the flower (Knautia drymeia) and inadvertently invades the space of the fly that had been there all along.
As the bee gets too close, the fly lashes out at the bee, hitting it with its forelegs. The bee is literally taken aback (note its antennae).