Of the flies I saw today, this one is my favourite. It's the ngaro tara or three-lined Hover Fly (*Helophilus seelandicus*), a New Zealand endemic species.

I like the sleek colour pattern. It would not look out of place on a coverable sports car.

While the adult is sleek, the larva is a rat-tailed maggot with a long snorkle out its rear end that allows it to eat decomposing matter in stagnant water.

I saw this while on my weekly biodiversity run this afternoon through Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ.

https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/348889144

#diptera #flies #entomology #nz #Syrphidae #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #iNaturalist

Guten Morgen und einen entspannten Samstag! 😀 👋

Zum #Insektensamstag heute eine Hainschwebfliege (Episyrphus balteatus), die auf einer Blüte der Sand-Schaumkresse sitzt.

#fliegen #flies #insekten #insects #tiere #animals #fotografie #photography #Photographie #foto #animalphotography #biology #natur #nature #naturephotography #blumen #flowers #flora #flower #flowersofmastodon #flowerphotography