Facts about Hoverflies Volume 1

Things to know about hoverflies Volume 1.

1. Hoverflies can be spotted in most habitats; wetlands, meadows, brown-field sites, woodland and their edges, hedges, parks, gardens, coastal, uplands and marshes. Hoverflies are not so good in cold areas of the planet like the poles or in very hot places like deserts, in fact none are known to exist in Antarctica.
   
   
   
2. In America they are known as flower flies or syrphid flies.

   

   Flowerflies

3. They can migrate just like butterflies and birds. Some can migrate 3000miles some don’t migrate at all, a decision made when they are still a larva. Click here to learn more

   

   Why are hoverflies found on Oil Rigs?    credit Google maps

   
   
4. Hoverflies resemble bees & wasps, and are some of the best known examples of Batesian mimicry. 

   

   How many bees and how many hoverflies can you see in the picture?
   Answer below.

   
   
5. Some hoverflies lay their eggs in wasp and hornet nests. They do not feed on the larvae but clean up the debri at the bottom of the nest. So, they hoover before they hover. Greater Hornet Plumehorn (Vollucella Zonaria) being one such species, is a good mimic of a hornet 
   

   Answer to Question 4 – 4 hoverflies the rest are bees. Click here to learn more