I’m absolutely hopeless at identifying insects, and Google isn’t always accurate, either. These ones were flying around in droves at the Nunobiki Herb Gardens in Kobe. They seem to be very territorial; they would hover motionless in one spot until another specimen crossed their airspace—at which point things would get fast and hectic. Once the rival had been chased off, the original spot was reclaimed. Good for me—and the camera! 😉 Their behavior strongly reminded me of that of dragonflies, and indeed, their eyes appear to have evolved in a similar way. Body size: 3–5 cm—I’d venture a guess that it’s a carpenter bee.