Metallic Blue Hover Fly

This New Zealand native hover fly is easily mistaken for a bluebottle. However, the orange scutellum is a give away.

Today I collided with a biggish bumblebee. It got tangled in my unruly hair. Since I couldn’t see it on the side of my head I hesitated picking it out with my fingers. We both had some anxious moments, but neither of us panicked, and with a bit of cooperation we separated. I felt quite pleased by the encounter.