Deceiving our eyes.

We wish all a Happy Friday, and a great weekend.

That is not a bee, and the other one is not a butterfly.

It does look like a bee, doesn't it? But that is only to confuse its enemies. They sat on a Cape Scabious (Scabiosa africana). A bit more about the flower, it is a tall, branched perennial and its habitat is the eastern slopes and sheltered, bushy areas. But now, its habitat has changed, as it is common to see these flowers in our local gardens.
Now, let me show you the names of the insects that sat on the flowers.

First, let's have a look at the one that looks like a bee. I think it is a Marble-eyed Drone Fly (Eristalinus modestus), and they reckon that it is common in Africa and in Europe. It is a honeybee mimic.

Then, we have the one that looks like a butterfly. This one I know. It is a Cotton Bollworm Moth (Helicoverpa armigera). The moth is also known as a Scarce Bordered Straw in Britain. Although it appears to be a nocturnal species, it is often seen flying around during the day, and it is found all over South Africa.

We also have this hover fly on our Pelargonium bush, and this one below was whizzing along over the flowers.

The Cabbage butterflies also love this bush, but the Citrus Swallowtail and the Acraea butterfly varieties avoid the bush.

Finally, a picture of our bush, and if you look carefully at the bottom left of the picture, you will see another Cabbage butterfly perched on a flower.

We had a hectic past week, as one emotional evening was spent at the annual concert by an NPO for small children with disabilities that Papillon supports, and it was a brilliant show. All the kiddies were parked and packed on to the stage with their helpers and the teachers guiding them through songs, accompanied by music. It was a very tender occasion and at times we even had tears in our eyes.

Then, we were glued to our PC screens for a few days on online workshops for NPO workers, and it was very time-consuming but also very essential. Then to crown it all, we attended a spit-braai function, and spit braai basically means that a lamb is slowly roasted in a drum barbeque, and it was also a friendly crowd.
Such is life.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.

Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.

Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.

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