Hoverfly

As something of an antidote to the wasp featured earlier, here's a harmless female Hoverfly which uses markings similar to those of the wasp to trick predators into mistakenly it is foul tasting and packs a powerful sting. Such a subterfuge is called Batesian mimicry after English naturalist and explorer Henry Walter Bates, who first described it in 1862. Hoverflies vary considerably in shape and colouration, but I reckon this example is Episyrphus balteatus. Happy to be corrected, as always.

Canon 1Ds Mk III, Canon 100mm prime macro lens, 1/100th sec, f/8, ISO 400