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Laphria thoracica
This Robber Fly is a bumblebee-mimic. As true flies, they only have one set of flying wings.
Laphria thoracica
It fooled me! Thanks Kristal, you are so right! I spotted this insect sitting on a leaf. I was surprised it was so still and on a shady, woodland area.
Something didn't seem quite right to me about this photo, so I stared at it for a while and realized it's not a carpenter bee! This is a robber fly who mimics carpenter bees, probably Laphria flavicollis (http://bugguide.net/node/view/532408). If you look closely at the second photo the antennae and eyes are wrong for a carpenter bee. Plus the wing venation is wrong for bees, and I only see one pair of wings. Sneaky little critter!
Spotted on Jul 3, 2011
Submitted on Jul 3, 2011
