Hooray For Hoverflies

I was sitting out in my garden with my daughter this morning, watching her enjoy the flowers, when suddenly, she ran away screaming. I asked her what had happened, and the best I could get out of my two year old was, "Scary Bee!" I happen to love trying to photograph bees, because I think they are lovely and such interesting insects. I love trying to capture their amazing eyes and all the pollen on their legs, so I grabbed my camera and my macro lens (although, I'm lacking a tripod at the moment - and that would have helped immensely). As I got closer to her "scary bee", I noted that it was not a bee that she had seen but one of the very friendly and helpful Hoverflies that inhabit my garden. I can see why she was confused - upon closer inspection they look quite a lot alike - although the Hoverfly is quite a lot smaller and hovers above the flowers whereas the bees simply buzz around.

(Click pictures to view them larger)







Then, as I was photographing this first one, another one landed on the flower next to him. At first, I thought it was actually a bee, because he was the same size as a bee, but I later learned that bees and wasps all have two sets of wings and flies only have one - so this is just a different species of hoverfly. Notice how much bigger he is compared to the brown part of the flower than the first guy? He's significantly bigger - and much easier to photograph. He also didn't hover the way the smaller fly did - and I have been told it's because hovering requires large amounts of energy and therefore cost prohibitive for such a large fly.







And one last one, because I love all the pollen stuck to his rear end:



What I love most about these syrphid flies (and probably what most farmers love most about them as well), is that although the adults eat mostly pollen and nectar, the syrphid maggots eat lots of other things that we consider pests - like aphids. Have a problem with aphids destroying your garden? Plant some plants that attract hoverflies nearby:  alyssum, Iberis umbellata, statice, buckwheat, chamomile, parsley, and yarrow.

Despite how much they may resemble honeybee or wasps, hoverflies don't have a stinger and pose no risk to humans at all. So, if you, like my daughter, flee at the sight of anything black and yellow, take a closer look and enjoy watching this busy little insect pollinate your garden.

If you want more information on the subject, it just so happens that my sister did her Ph.D. thesis on the the Syrphid Flies, so I'm sure she would be happy to post a link to her research.