Two of my blogging buddies, Mike and Pete, have just posted images of hoverflies, and I feel inspired to add one of my own. No, I haven’t seen any here in Auckland recently, but this one that I met near our cabin a few years ago in mid-July came immediately to mind. 
There are, according to Wikipedia and as Mike stated in his post, more than 6,000 species of hoverfly worldwide, which can make it a real challenge to try to peg down an individual. But I recall that there are two common ones in northern Minnesota, and this one seemed to match perfectly the image in one of my field guides of the genus Toxomerus, so I’m happy to leave it at that. The flower in the photo, by the way, is a sky-blue aster (Symphotrichum oolentangiense). (Be sure to click on the photo for an enlarged view.)
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krikitarts 
Lovely clear markings on the hover fly and comlemented well by the simple shape and colours of the aster. Nice one!
It really helps that, when they hover, practically nothing moves but their wings. They can take off in an instant, but while they’re so still, they’re magic!
Amazing capture of a hovering insect!
The little fellow (or lady) helped a lot by being in exactly the right place at the right time!
Lovely shot. (and I thought of my own hoverfly image also :D ).
Thank you, and yes, of course!
It has such fine and elegant markings. What a beauty. Well captured, and in flight, too!
I remember having focused on the flower when the hoverfly came in and…of course…hovered there for several seconds, long enough for me to shift the focus. Love it when that happens!
That was a quick reaction to be able to shift focus so quickly, Gary. It is so easy to stay focused on a flower, which, of course, is ok when the insect is likely to land. In the case of hoverflies, they often don’t land, as their name suggests. I love your composition as well–it’s great when you can show the details of an insect like this and also create a beautiful photo. By appearance and by the genus name you provided, this one looks to be at least a close cousin to the one whose image I posted previously. In terms of usage, it seems like sources are all over the map about whether hoverfly should be rendered as one word or two. I probably should stick with one word, as I do with dragonfly, but I think that I have been consistently inconsistent.
Most of the sources I’ve consulted seem to clearly prefer the one-word version, so that’s what I’m going with. When I first observed them (I think it was while fly fishing in a small Minnesota stream), I thought they were some kind of bee, but a little research soon put that misconception to rest. They have become among my very favorite insects, and when I’m afield with a camera I’m always delighted to meet a new one. And they are so amazingly agile, very similar to dragon- and damselflies in that regard, and so beautifully, calligraphically designed!
I did click onto the image, Gary, and its absolutely beautiful – and certainly an achievement to have caught the hoverfly so well. Adrian :)
A lot of the credit has to go to the subject, for being so willing to cooperate. Thanks, Adrian.
It’s good you managed to catch the hoverfly in mid air; that’s often not an easy task.
If you’re willing to extend back two months, we’ll have a quartet of hoverfly pictures. Mine, like yours, was a <i>Toxomerus</i>.
Considering my seven-year extension, yours is a modest one and is most welcome to join the party!