Hoverfly Magic

You might have seen hoverflies in your garden hovering and darting about while feeding at flower blossoms. Hoverflies have a unique ability to hover, suspended in midair like miniature helicopters! They can also fly back wards. 

Toxomerus geminatuson Phytolacca americana*

These remarkable little critters have evolved to mimic the characteristics of bees and wasps to keep birds and other prey from eating them. Humans see the yellow and black stripes and stay away, too. However, they are all stripes and no sting! It's safe to take a closer look at these incredible creatures. Once you get closer to them you can see that those warning stripes are actually a beautifully designed pattern.

resting on Gaura lindheimeri

When not hovering or darting about they can be seen resting on leaves and petals of plants. That's one of the best times to get a photo. I take dozens of shots to get one that highlight their characteristics. The above photo is one of my favorites and it clearly shows the hoverfly's characteristic short antenna. If I didn't know before that this wasn't a bee I would know now, flies have stubby little antennas! (more on them at We can't all be pretty pollinators)

Hoverflies are important pollinators, but, when you look closely at them you can see they have neither a pollen basket like the bumblebee or pollen attracting hairy legs of the honeybee. They have no nest to tend and are not responsible for feeding their larvae, instead, they lay their eggs near a good food source and let nature take its course. The next time you spot an aphid colony and reach for the hose, stop  and check to see if there is a small slug like critter in the midst of the colony, that would be a hoverfly larva. A good hoverfly population can control 70% or more of the aphids in a garden.

Hoverflies have only one set of exquisite wings

The next time you're in the garden look for small hovering and darting critters, note the yellow and black warning stripes; enormous eyes; stubby antenae; and, a single pair of exquisite wings.  

Be glad they've taken up residence, you're doing the right things for them and they're doing the right things for your garden!

Of course you all know the one of the very best things you can do for pollinators is to never, ever, ever, ever , I mean never, use pesticides!

xoxogail

* found in Eastern Canada south to Texas 

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.