Rolf Nussbaumer / Gadfly Orchid {Ophrys oestrifera} flower, Samos, Greek Island, Greece, April

Jose B. Ruiz / Pale lent lily {Narcissus pseudonarcissus pallidiflorus} flower with Hoverfly (Syrphidae), Cabaneros NP, Spain

John Cancalosi / Hover Fly (Eristalis tenax) on Bramble flower, UK

John Cancalosi / Hover fly (Syrphus sp) feeding on nectar from Bramble flower bud, UK

John Cancalosi / Hover fly (Helophilus sp) feeding on nectar from thistle flower, UK

Rolf Nussbaumer / Green Lynx Spider {Peucetia viridans} adult on Golden Crownbeard flower (Verbesina encelioides)feeding on Hover Fly, Rio Grande Valley, Texas, USA,

PREMAPHOTOS / Hover fly {Volucella bombylans} on Dog rose flower, UK Note - a white-tailed bumble bee mimic

Jose B. Ruiz / Common bee fly {Bombylius major} at flower, Spain

Adrian Davies / Hoverfly on Blackberry flower (Volucella sonaria) UK

Christian Ziegler / Birthwort (Aristolochia sp) attracts Dung Beetles (Scarabaeinae) and flies with smell mimicking dead carcass, in return these animals aid in pollination, Panama

Michael Durham / Leaf-cutting Bee (Megachile sp) flies toward a Goldenrod flower (Solidago sp) abdomen is covered with pollen, North America

Michael Durham / Bumblebee (Bombus huntii) with full pollen baskets, flies from a Rhododendron flower, northeast Oregon

Adrian Davies / Hoverfly {Volucella pellucens} on Bramble flower, UK

Kim Taylor / Hoverfly {Syrphus luniger} flies to Storksbill flower, UK.

Kim Taylor / Snout fly / Hoverfly {Rhingia campestris} on Water avens flower, UK.

Kim Taylor / Bumble bee hoverfly {Volucella bombylans} feeding on Alkanet flower, UK.

Kim Taylor / Sunfly / hoverfly {Helophilus pendulus} pollinates Kingcup flower, UK.

Kim Taylor / Common bee fly {Bombylius major} flying to flower with proboscis extended. UK.

Kim Taylor / Stone fly {Leuctra fusca} on balsam flower, Europe

Kim Taylor / St Mark's fly / March fly {Bibio marci} on Gorse flower, UK.

Kim Taylor / Common white-tailed bumblebee flies to flower {Bombus lucorum} UK

Michael Durham / Flower flies mating {Crioprora cyanella} Oregon USA

Dietmar Nill / Robber fly {Asilidae} on flower, Bulgaria

Jose B. Ruiz / Common bee-fly feeding on flower nectar {Bombylius major} Spain

Chien Lee / Rothschild's Slipper Orchid (Paphiopedilum rothschildianum) flower showing bristles that are believed to mimic an infection of aphid insects, thereby luring predatory syrphid flies which act as pollin...

Paul D Stewart / Illustration of Rafflesia arnoldi, hand tinted copperplate engraving from 'Bilderbuch fur Kinder' BD XI, No 14, plate CLXXIII. c1820 around the time of the flower's first description. The largest sing...

Will Watson / Common rufous parasite fly (Tachina fera) on Wild angelica (Angelica sylvestris) flower, Mortimer Forest, Herefordshire, England, UK, August

Christian Ziegler / Orchid (Masdevallia sp) flower being pollinated by tiny carrion flies which are attracted to the flower by its foul smell, one is carrying a pollinium, Finca Dracula Orchid Sanctuary, western Panama

Chien Lee / Rhizanthes (Rhizanthes lowii) flower mimics the smell of a rotting carcass to attract carrion flies which swarm around it to lay their eggs, Malaysia

Premaphotos / Dark-edged / Common bee fly (Bombylius major) feeding from Lady's smock flower, UK

Premaphotos / March fly (Bibio lanigerus) male on a Lesser celandine flower in spring, UK

Premaphotos / Drone / Hover flies (Eristalis arbustorum) (left) and (Eristalis pertinax) (right) on a chrysanthemum Court Jesters flower in a garden, UK

Premaphotos / Yellow-legged moustached icon female hover fly (Syrphus ribesii) (left), Marmalade icon hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) (right), on Marigold flower in a garden, UK

Premaphotos / Hover fly (Sphaerophoria scripta) on a Burdock flower head, UK

Premaphotos / Marmalade icon hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) male alongside Micro moth (Anthophila fabriciana) on Marigold flower in a garden, UK

Premaphotos / Large fruit fly (Trypeta tussilaginis) female with her ovipositor partly extended after laying her eggs in flower bud, UK

Premaphotos / Thick headed fly (Thecophora atra) on a Fleabane flower, UK

Premaphotos / Black-rimmed snout hover fly (Rhingia campestris) on a yellow Iris flower, UK

Premaphotos / Common tiger hover fly / sunfly (Helophilus pendulus) on Bramble flower, UK

Premaphotos / Giant prong-horn hover fly (Chrysotoxum cautum) one of the best wasp mimics both visually and behaviourally, on a Dog rose flower, UK

Premaphotos / Elegant drone fly, a hover fly (Eristalis horticola) female on Knapweed flower, UK

Premaphotos / Shining-faced drone fly / hover fly (Eristalis tenax) male sitting on a garden flower and grooming its wing bases, UK

Premaphotos / Clear-winged moustached icon hover fly (Syrphus vitripennis) on a bramble flower, UK

Premaphotos / Hover fly (Dasysyrphus tricinctus) female on Fleabane flower, UK

Premaphotos / Meadow icon hover fly (Metasyrphus latifasciatus) on Common fleabane flower, UK

Premaphotos / Copper glint hover fly (Ferdinandea cuprea) on flower, UK

Premaphotos / Thick-headed fly (Myopa testacea) on flower, UK

Premaphotos / Bumble bee plume-horn, a hover fly (Volucella bombylans), mimicking a red-tailed bumble bee on a Dog rose flower, UK

Premaphotos / Hover flies on Bramble flower: Marmalade icon hover fly (Episyrphus balteatus) in flight, Banded narrow icon hover fly (Meliscaeva cinctella) on right and Meadow tear hover fly (Melanostoma melinum) o...

Premaphotos / Lesser hornet plume-horn hover fly (Volucella inanis) feeding from {Eryngium campestre} flower, France

Premaphotos / Bumble bee drone fly, a hover fly (Eristalis intricarius) on a bramble flower, UK

Premaphotos / White-belted fleck hover fly (Leucozona lucorum) female on a Bramble flower, UK

Premaphotos / Yellow-rimmed icon hover fly (Metasyrphus corollae) on flower, UK

Premaphotos / Dark-edged bee fly (Bombylius major) extracting nectar from Bugle flower {Ajuga reptans} UK

Premaphotos / Hornet plume-horn hover fly (Volucella zonaria) feeding from a Bramble flower, UK

Premaphotos / Marmalade icon hover fly (Episyrphus balteatus) males and females on Dandelion flower, UK

Premaphotos / Hover fly (Sphaerophoria menthastri) female on Yellow fleabane flower (Pulicaria dysenterica), UK

Premaphotos / Fever fly (Dilophus febrilis) male on Primrose flower, UK

Premaphotos / Black drone fly, a hover fly (Eristalinus sepulchralis) mating pair on a Dandelion flower, UK

Premaphotos / Marmalade icon hover fly (Episyrphus balteatus) female flying to Dandelion flower, UK

Nick Upton / Yellow banded conops flies (Conops quadrifasciatus) pair, mating on a scabious flowerhead in a garden, Wiltshire, UK. July.

Ashley Cooper / Two flies collecting pollen from Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) in a garden pond, Ambleside, Lake District, Cumbria, UK. April.

Kim Taylor / Wasp (Vespula sp.) worker flies past a Common fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica) and then spots a Clouded yellow butterfly (Colias croceus) which it perceives as potential prey. The wasp moves round the...

Kim Taylor / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker enters frame and flies towards Rose flower (Rosa sp.) to inspect it. The bee decides not to feed and flies out of the frame. Guildford, Surrey, UK.

Nick Upton / Common butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris) flowering on marshy hillside with small flies trapped on its sticky leaves, Cwm Cadlan National Nature Reserve, Brecon Beacons, Wales, UK. June.

Nick Upton / Common butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris) flowering on marshy hillside with small flies trapped on its sticky leaves, Cwm Cadlan National Nature Reserve, Brecon Beacons, Wales, UK. June.

Andy Sands / Splayed deer fly (Chrysops caecutiens), male, feeding on yellow flower. Hertfordshire, England, UK. July.

Andy Sands / Splayed deer fly (Chrysops caecutiens), male, feeding on yellow flower. Hertfordshire, England, UK. July.

Andy Sands / Splayed deer fly (Chrysops caecutiens), male, feeding on yellow flower. Hertfordshire, England, UK. July.

Terry Whittaker / White tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) flies to Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) flower and feeds on nectar from before leaving frame, Greater Manchester, September.

Chris Mattison / Tachinid fly (probably Tachina fera) feeding on Ivy (Hedera sp.) flowers, Wales, UK. October.

Brian Bevan / Robin (Erithacus rubella) feeding chicks in flower pot nest, then flies off, Bedfordshire, UK, May.

Brian Bevan / Robin (Erithacus rubella) feeding chicks in flower pot nest, then flies off, Bedfordshire, UK, May.

Brian Bevan / Robin (Erithacus rubella) feeding chicks in flower pot nest, then flies off, Bedfordshire, UK, May.

Nigel Cattlin / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) flying to forage on yellow Mahonia 'Winter Sun' flowers on a fine Christmas day in mid winter, Berkshire, December

Nigel Cattlin / Rose thrips (Thrips fuscipennis) adult pest insect on a rose flower petal

Nick Upton / Common bee fly (Bombylius major) nectaring on a Greater periwinkle flower (Vinca major), Wiltshire garden, UK, April.

Nick Upton / Common bee fly (Bombylius major) nectaring on a Greater periwinkle flower (Vinca major), Wiltshire garden, UK, April.

Nick Upton / Common bee fly (Bombylius major) inserting its long proboscis into a Primrose flower (Primula vulgaris) to feed on nectar, Wiltshire garden, UK, March.

Nick Upton / Common bee fly (Bombylius major) inserting its long proboscis into a Primrose flower (Primula vulgaris) to feed on nectar, Wiltshire garden, UK, March.

Michael Hutchinson / Wide angle shot of a female Goldenrod spider (Misumena vatia) on Annual honesty (Lunaria annua) flower, with flies flying nearby, Bristol, England, UK, April.

John Cancalosi / Root maggot fly (Anthomyia spp.), on red hot poker (Kniphofia spp.), native to South Africa.