Bees aren't the only iridescent insects in the flower patch. This green fly was caught in the same patch as the bee at the corner of the cornfield that comes up to our backyard. While the bee above is a four winged hymenopteran, this fly is a two winged dipteran. The second pair of wings have become somewhat vestigal showing up as "halteres" the small round white things near the base of the true wings. The greek root word "ptera" refers to "wing".
"Hymeno-pteran" means "membrane-winged" while "di-pteran" means "two-winged" as you might imagine.

Bees aren't the only iridescent insects in the flower patch. This green fly was caught in the same patch as the bee at the corner of the cornfield that comes up to our backyard. While the bee above is a four winged hymenopteran, this fly is a two winged dipteran. The second pair of wings have become somewhat vestigal showing up as "halteres" the small round white things near the base of the true wings. The greek root word "ptera" refers to "wing".
"Hymeno-pteran" means "membrane-winged" while "di-pteran" means "two-winged" as you might imagine.