Hover-fly Illusions

Lying in the sun yesterday morning with my knee raised it became the object of a hoverfly game. It seems that Hoverflys like many insects protect a territory and this fellow had taken claim of the airspace above my knee using it as a watchout post. Either that or he was protecting the knee itself. With lighting speed and agility he would launch himself into the air and dog-fight with anything that came within a yard all done within the blink of a lazy human eye.

Obviously territory is a critical issue given the cost of all this time and activity. Most likely it is linked to mating success.

What the hoverfly didn't know, maybe, was how transitory his territory was. I was going to move in a few minutes and all that territory would vapourise.

I realised that it is not just humans who get involved in transient and vapid status struggles. Not just humans can become trapped by the illusion of territory. This illusion seems to be a central part of Life itself! Certainly a hoverfly does not have the mental apparatus to become "illusioned" he is simply playing out a game. Yet it is a game fo some persistence and standing in Life given that Humans of infinitely greater capacity spend their days accumulating territories and possessions that like my knee will evaporate one day.