Hover Flies: Pollinators, and Predators!

Hover flies (family Syrphidae) are very diverse, and very useful in agriculture. So far our project had made 33 observations, of 15 different species.
Many adult hover flies are striped like some bees and wasps, and they also visit flowers. You can recognize them because they have a hovering flight pattern (like their name). They also have only one pair of wings, while bees and wasps have two. If you get a close look, you can also see that they have large eyes and short stubby antenna. And, they don't sting!

© Bob McDougall, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

Hover flies are especially valued in agriculture because their larva feed on aphids. Looking nothing like the adult, the larva is a legless white / yellow / green maggot. It move about as fast as an aphid, and when it catches one, it sucks all the juice out and discards the empty aphid skin behind it. Yum!

© prairiegirlgonecoastal, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

© michalinahunter, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

You may also see hover fly eggs. They look like small, white grains of rice, laid on leaves near patches of aphids.

While they are hard to photograph because the move so fast, see if you can spot some in your gardens and fields this week!

Posted on August 13, 2021 10:33 PM by bzand