Odd behaviour

Over the last few years I've become quite hooked on macro photography, which means I spend quite a bit of time behaving oddly, usually prostrate in long grass or precariously leaning out over ponds. My prize, if successful, is being able to observe something which despite being common the world over is not easily seen in detail. It's particularly exciting to find, and capture an image of, a creature which is itself acting unexpectedly, such as this strange fellow.



It's a Satellite fly (Leucophora). (A bee predator unfortunately.) A small, hairy, grey-brown fly that has discovered a way of standing out from the crowd! It was difficult to find any information on what was going on here, but I've finally discovered that this is not bubble blowing, but bubble regurgitating behaviour. It is thought that repeated regurgitation of food aids digestion. This makes sense as this tiny fly made several bubbles, none of which burst but were sucked back into its mouth only to emerge again a moment later.