(image from wikimedia)
They like landing on sweaty skin, sampling the salt.
They can be found at altitude on trails most everywhere around the world."Flies in the Diptera family Syrphidae are commonly known as hoverflies, flower flies, or Syrphid flies. …
Many Syrphids mimic bees or wasps in appearance. It is thought that this mimicry protects hover flies from falling prey to birds and other insectivores which avoid eating true wasps because of their sting. …
Hover flies get their name from their characteristic flight pattern of hovering nearly still, then darting a short distance very rapidly only to start hovering again, a pattern not seen in the wasps and bees they mimic."
"About 6,000 species in 200 genera have been described.
Hoverflies are common throughout the world and can be
found on every continent except Antarctica. Hoverflies
are harmless to most other animals despite their mimicry
of the black and yellow stripes of wasps, which serves
to ward off predators. …" How about that!!??
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