Seems like most of the insects I see just hanging out like that are female...that is common with dragonflies and butterflies it seems. How can you tell?

My experience, at least with flies, is just the opposite! LOL!

With many flies and most syrphids, the males have large eyes that touch at the top. Your fly is a female; here's the male version:


If you're curious about whether or not a particular fly species fits this formula, look through posts here for mating pairs to verify.

Sometimes behavior is also a clue. If you see a bee fly rubbing its butt in the sand, it's a female getting ready to bombard the burrow of its prey with a load of eggs and grit.

I'm not as up on dragonflies and butterflies, but do know some are distinguished by pattern/color and probably all by appendages.

Thanks for that. I do love the syrphids and would love to learn more about them. Curious about the eyes!

Dragonflies and damselflies are often pretty obvious when it comes to coloration and patterns, though some can seem pretty similiar to each other. They also can act differently, with males guarding patches of territory along areas of water while females (and immature males) either in my experience just hanging around (to my eye) or wandering pretty far from water (the Eastern Pondhawk is famous for being quite far from water, at least the females). Butterflies can in some species do what is called hilltopping, looking for and patrolling high areas, chasing off males and/or looking for females. Also butterflies can look at lost different between genders though to my eye and experience can often appear much more simliar to each other than do dragonflies and damselflies.

Dragonflies are another story. I shot three today, have one I'm sure of, and no clue on the other two. With some of them - some damsels too - immature males look like females. And if you encounter the recently emerged (tenerals), they can be close to transparent

Lots of mysteries for us to unravel!