Gayle Marien welcomes the return of the not-so-humble hover fly
By Gayle Marien
The hover flies are back! I went to the wax-flower bush in our garden when it came into bloom earlier this month looking for honey bees to photograph and discovered an abundance of hover flies.
As soon as I spotted them, I raced inside for my camera and switched to my macro lens. I was hopeful these tiny insects with their oversized eyes, black-button noses, and their black and yellow stripes would strike a pose on a flower. They are tricksters dressed to resemble bees, but there is no cause to worry; they are harmless as they have no stinger. I got as close as I could without spooking them.
The hover flies are back! I went to the wax-flower bush in our garden when it came into bloom earlier this month looking for honey bees to photograph and discovered an abundance of hover flies.
As soon as I spotted them, I raced inside for my camera and switched to my macro lens. I was hopeful these tiny insects with their oversized eyes, black-button noses, and their black and yellow stripes would strike a pose on a flower. They are tricksters dressed to resemble bees, but there is no cause to worry; they are harmless as they have no stinger. I got as close as I could without spooking them.
My insect field guide tells me there are 169 species of hover fly but it was the half-band or ‘common’ hover fly that I found. (The yellow-shouldered stout hover fly has also been a visitor to our garden.) They are mesmerising to watch as they hover, hesitating above the flowers. Do they survey them for Michelin Star quality nectar and pollen? Are they on the lookout for other occupants – a sugar ant, a carpet beetle, an even smaller fly – wanting exclusive access to their chosen flower?
Whatever it is, their wings move at a blurring pace, from 120 to 300 beats per second. They dart every which way. They can even fly backwards, and that’s a rarity as insects go.
But hover flies are so much more than photographer’s models. These little guys, only one- to two-thirds the length of a honey bee, are pollinators despite not having the branched hairs to carry pollen as bees do.
What they lack as pollinators, their babies make up for in pest control. That’s right; their children work for a living and grow fat on the rewards. Gardeners will be pleased to know they make a dinner of scales, mites and thrips, but look forward to a serving of aphids as we would a Sunday roast. I have read that one larva can eat up to 400 aphids as it grows. That’s one hungry little grub! The adults gorge on nectar and pollen, but they also have a taste for salty sweat. If a hover fly lands on you, it is more likely it sees you as a lollipop than a place to rest.
But hover flies are so much more than photographer’s models. These little guys, only one- to two-thirds the length of a honey bee, are pollinators despite not having the branched hairs to carry pollen as bees do.
What they lack as pollinators, their babies make up for in pest control. That’s right; their children work for a living and grow fat on the rewards. Gardeners will be pleased to know they make a dinner of scales, mites and thrips, but look forward to a serving of aphids as we would a Sunday roast. I have read that one larva can eat up to 400 aphids as it grows. That’s one hungry little grub! The adults gorge on nectar and pollen, but they also have a taste for salty sweat. If a hover fly lands on you, it is more likely it sees you as a lollipop than a place to rest.
The next time you see a hover fly, give some thought to its horticultural prowess, both as a pollinator and a pest controller. If you’d like to attract them to your garden, consider a dense planting of flowers; especially flowers with flat tops. Or add dill, coriander, and parsley to your herb garden. Amongst our native plants, they have a liking for lilly pillies and bottlebrushes. And me, I’ll just keep photographing them and admiring them for their beauty.