Fly on My Daisy!

A close-up of a large horsefly gathering pollen from a daisy.

Image taken in Kinsmen Park, just north of Sault st. Marie, Ontario, Canada.

Captured with a Canon Rebel XSi with a 55-250mm lens.

Despite their (well earned) reputation as vicious biting insects, adult horse flies actually feed on nectar and pollen. The reason horse flies bite is that females require a ‘blood’ meal for reproduction.

The Daisy (Bellis perennis) is a common European species of Daisy, often considered the archetypal species of that name. Many related plants also share the name “Daisy”, so to distinguish this species from other daisies it is sometimes qualified as Common Daisy, Lawn Daisy or occasionally English daisy. It is native to western, central and northern Europe. The species is widely naturalized in North America, and also in South America.
It is a herbaceous plant with short creeping rhizomes and small rounded or spoon-shaped evergreen leaves 2–5 cm long, grows close to ground. The flowerheads are 2–3 cm in diameter, with white ray florets (often tipped red) and yellow disc florets; they are produced on leafless stems 2–10 cm (rarely 15 cm) tall.