A trickster of autumn

By Aaron Horrell

It may not be Halloween just yet, but there is a little trickster out and about. It is the Yellowjacket Mimic Fly. It is the size of the yellowjacket paper wasp that can sting you and make you cry.

The Yellowjacket Mimic is a good pollinator of late summer and autumn flowers.

It has evolved to look like a yellowjacket so that potential predators such as birds and lizards will not recognize it as prey.

This fly was busy pollinating the small flowers of a beautiful wild yellow goldenrod when I found it. I especially like that its eyes are striped yellow and black.