— Below to the left you see a very beautiful hoverfly, called the Pellucid Hoverfly. Even though they appear dangerous to their own predators, hoverflies are harmless and don’t sting or bite.. There are over 270 types of hoverfly in Britain and about 120 of them have […] Many of their larvae (the baby hoverflies that look like maggots) crawl around on plants feeding on the aphids that would otherwise eat our flowers and crops. Learn about biodiversity, the scientific study of life and organisms, and the story of human evolution. Some species also have considerable acting talents. Christopher Hassall receives funding from a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme. These hatch and the larvae feed on their particular food materials as indicated above. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between flies and wasps at first glance. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Next time you see or hear an animal that makes you reach instinctively for the rolled up newspaper, take a minute to check that it isn’t one of nature’s great actors. They are 4-16mm in length. While the hoverflies have a complex and fascinating suite of acting skills to dissuade would-be predators, they are still part of an evolutionary "arms race" where predators either keep up or starve. These flies are often covered in yellow and black stripes, which from a distance makes them look like a dangerous wasp ready to sting. KNNV Publishing, Utrecht. In reality, the hoverfly has no sting and is completely harmless to humans. [22], Native hoverfly species Melanostoma fasciatum and Melangyna novaezelandiae are common on agricultural fields in New Zealand. So we are left with a situation where an animal brain outperforms human researchers and their technical wizardry, which is not altogether surprising. It seems that hoverflies are capable of the same behavior. Both flies and wasps are winged, they both tend to 'buzz' around in the garden, and sometimes in the house, and some species can cause irrit. Many of their larvae (the baby hoverflies that look like maggots) crawl around on plants feeding on the aphids that would otherwise eat our flowers and crops. But flying around in the open leaves hoverflies vulnerable to predators, a problem they have solved by evolving to resemble the stinging, pollinating insects such as bees and wasps with which they share the flowers. Join us, volunteer and be a part of our journey of discovery! But just because statistical analysis can't tell the difference, that doesn't mean natural predators can't. [13] Bees are thought to be able to carry a greater volume of pollen on their bodies, but flies may be able to compensate for this by making a greater number of flower visits. Hundreds of small, striped insects were buzzing around a children's playground. Aphid-eating hover fly larvae are flattened, legless and maggot-like. In the summer of 2011, panic gripped a small community in Gatineau, Quebec. To test for the benefits of this sound imitation in the wild, researchers presented pastry models of insects to wild birds with the different sounds. The credit for its long battery life and durability goes to the two 250-watt motors installed inside the hoverboard. Though they look similar, hoverflies have 2 wings whereas bees and wasps have four. Hoverflies are harmless to most other animals, despite their mimicry of stinging wasps and bees, a mimicry which serves to ward off predators. M. fasciatum has a short proboscis, which restricts it to obtaining nectar from disk flowers. Ball, S. & Morris, R. (2015) Britain's Hoverflies: A Field Guide, Revised and Updated Second Edition. A feature of hoverfly wings is the presence of a false vein or vena spuria across most of the length of the wing in the central area. Many species perform the useful role of ridding the garden of aphids, as they lay their eggs in aphid colonies and the larvae (maggots) feed on the aphids. Some hover fly species (Eristalis sp) lay their eggs in stagnant water. Hoverflies, commonly known as flower flies, belong to the Syrphidae family, and hence, they are often also called syrphid flies. Judith Webb's paper listed below is an excellent source of information', As with other pollinators, avoid double flowers. They are a classic example of Batesian mimicry . All rights reserved. The orchid species Epipactis veratrifolia mimics alarm pheromones of aphids which attracts pollinating hoverflies . In other species, the larvae are insectivores and prey on aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects. The high-pitched buzz that bumble bees make seems to be produced by the bee unhooking its wings from the muscles that drive them, resulting in a completely different sound. Christopher Hassall is lecturer in Animal Biology at University of Leeds. — [2] Some species are found in more unusual locations; for example, members of the genus Volucella can be found in bumblebee nests, while members of Microdon are myrmecophiles, found in ant or termite nests. Hover flies may appear in large numbers during hot weather. Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Sir Nigel Shadbolt in conversation: "The Web, internet and data during the pandemic: lessons learnt and new directions", Prof Christophe Fraser & Prof Oliver Pybus in conversation: "21st century technologies for tackling 21st century pandemics”, PONToon Virtual Symposium: Digital Innovation and Female Empowerment, Prof Julian Savulescu and Dr Samantha Vanderslott in conversation: "Mandatory COVID-19 vaccination: the arguments for and against". Meanwhile the adults —the stripy, flying insects that instil such terror—spend their days pollinating flowers as they feed on nectar and pollen. University of Leeds provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK. [1] Adults feed mainly on nectar and pollen. Entomology is the study of insects including flies, cicadas, moths, earwigs, fleas, bugs, cockroaches, bees, dragonflies, and termites. One of the most fascinating aspects of hoverfly mimicry has recently been dissected in great detail. Those larger species would therefore have more to gain from mimicry because they are under greater pressure from predators. They get their common names from their habit of hovering over flowers in order to feed on nectar. For every hoverfly that presents an exquisite example of mimicry (like the wonderful Spilomyia longicornis pictured above) there are several that really do not seem to be trying at all.