{"id":13078,"date":"2021-01-03T17:24:37","date_gmt":"2021-01-03T22:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=13078"},"modified":"2021-01-03T17:24:37","modified_gmt":"2021-01-03T22:24:37","slug":"wolf-in-sheeps-clothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don’t take many photos of bumble bees because they are so ubiquitous around my yard.\u00a0 So I don’t pay them much attention. BORING!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But one time I noticed a bumble bee on a flower that seemed interesting.\u00a0 He was sitting on a flower and not collecting pollen.\u00a0 So I took a closer look.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And what do you know, it’s a robber fly.\u00a0 Notice the enormous bulbous eyes that protrude above the head.\u00a0 Look at the long coarse hairs around the mouth and the thick piercing organ sticking out.\u00a0 Notice the clear separation between the head and thorax.. Finally notice that the back legs lack any pollen baskets that a real bee possesses.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s a blurry closeup of its head and thorax.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I remember reading in a book on close-up photography the author’s respect for the ferocity of robber flies.\u00a0 He said something like “if robber flies were the size of dogs we would be afraid to ever leave our houses for fear of being eaten alive.\u00a0 Sounds like a good premise for a science fiction story.<\/p>\n

Robber flies come in various shapes and sizes and only a few are mimics of bumble bees.\u00a0 But they all are ferocious predators and mostly hunt by ambushing their prey.in flight.\u00a0 And if you are careless they’ll even give you a painful bite if you attempt to catch them by hand.<\/p>\n

I’ve found several different types of the robber flies on my property and I find them very interesting.<\/p>\n

I was able to get a close look at this one by using the magnified view that my Sony A7 III provides.\u00a0 That means I didn’t have to get too close to see it.\u00a0 These things are very skittish and it flew away before I could get close enough to do a naked eye visual.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don’t take many photos of bumble bees because they are so ubiquitous around my yard.\u00a0 So I don’t pay them much attention. BORING! But<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1263,3],"tags":[2083,2020,318,1023,2828,1541,2744],"class_list":["post-13078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","category-photography","tag-bumble-bee","tag-insect","tag-insect-photos","tag-insects","tag-mimicry","tag-robber-fly","tag-things-that-really-interest-me"],"yoast_head":"\nWolf in Sheep's Clothing - Orion's Cold Fire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Orion's Cold Fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I don’t take many photos of bumble bees because they are so ubiquitous around my yard.\u00a0 So I don’t pay them much attention. BORING! But\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orion's Cold Fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-03T22:24:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/DSC00109.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"photog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@orionscoldfire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@orionscoldfire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"photog\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"photog\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3\"},\"headline\":\"Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-03T22:24:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-03T22:24:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/\"},\"wordCount\":316,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"bumble bee\",\"insect\",\"insect photos\",\"Insects\",\"mimicry\",\"robber fly\",\"Things That Really Interest Me\"],\"articleSection\":[\"photog's Corner\",\"Photography\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/\",\"name\":\"Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Orion's Cold Fire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-03T22:24:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-03T22:24:37+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\",\"name\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\",\"description\":\"All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg\",\"width\":4022,\"height\":1419,\"caption\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/orionscoldfire\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3\",\"name\":\"photog\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg\",\"caption\":\"photog\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/author\/photog\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Orion's Cold Fire","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Orion's Cold Fire","og_description":"I don’t take many photos of bumble bees because they are so ubiquitous around my yard.\u00a0 So I don’t pay them much attention. BORING! But","og_url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/","og_site_name":"Orion's Cold Fire","article_published_time":"2021-01-03T22:24:37+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/DSC00109.jpg"}],"author":"photog","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@orionscoldfire","twitter_site":"@orionscoldfire","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"photog","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/"},"author":{"name":"photog","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3"},"headline":"Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing","datePublished":"2021-01-03T22:24:37+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-03T22:24:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/"},"wordCount":316,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["bumble bee","insect","insect photos","Insects","mimicry","robber fly","Things That Really Interest Me"],"articleSection":["photog's Corner","Photography"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/","name":"Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Orion's Cold Fire","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-01-03T22:24:37+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-03T22:24:37+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/03\/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/","name":"Orion's Cold Fire","description":"All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization","name":"Orion's Cold Fire","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg","width":4022,"height":1419,"caption":"Orion's Cold Fire"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/orionscoldfire"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3","name":"photog","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg","caption":"photog"},"url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/author\/photog\/"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13078"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13081,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13078\/revisions\/13081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}