A comment made by http://missapismellifera.com made me think and gave me a challenge. I share what I see and find beautiful in the garden; the flowers, the bumble bees, the pretty birds but I wondered if I am giving a balanced or rose-tinted view of life.
I set out to find a nasty. But will I succeed? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the closer we get to nature the greater the array of creatures we notice. Then our appreciation mellows and mutates without us being aware of exactly when our sensibilities started to change.
I saw these flies just a short distance away from the garden in the fields. I think they belong to the family Asilidae (but stand ready to be corrected). They look more like large wasps or small dragonflies. These are predatory insects and can take smaller insects in flight. The family includes many mimics. Even one that can mimic a bumble bee!
The bristles on their legs serving here to steady themselves on the grass are also used to trap their victims and to carrying them off to be consumed in the comfort of a safe, shady spot.
There is a marked dimorphism between the male and female flies. Who would want to be an entomologist when there is such a difference between the male and female that if I had seen them apart I would have assumed that they were different species?
Now I wonder, have I found a nasty or does anyone like these flies?
These flies have now been identified as Dasypogon diadema by http://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com. Thank you so much Susan!
a french garden 