Wasp-mimicking Temnostoma fly

I was planting some native plants on campus today and saw a syrphid fly mimicking a wasp by holding its front legs out front like a wasp's antenna.  I believe it is a Temnostoma sp., which I saw a similar one more than four years at Algonquin.

Nature is so fascinating!

Urban insects on campus

This summer, I am staying in Ottawa and focusing on writing my thesis and not doing any fieldwork in Colorado.  To maintain a good work-life balance (especially when the weather is nice out), my labmates and I are helping setting up a group that focuses on enhancing our understanding about urban pollination on campus - by planting native plants and recording plant-pollinator interactions.  Yesterday, we walked around the campus and I photographed some of the floral visitors that we observed.

An Agapostemon sp. visiting and resting on a sage flower - definitely my best photo of the day.