View allAll Photos Tagged hoverflies
A hoverfly browsing on a Delta Sunflower blossom at Ulistac Natural Area in Santa Clara, CA.
There are a lot of hoverflies in this area and searching bugguide.net leads me to believe that this could be a Syrphus or Eupeodes species.
Here are two links for comparisons on these hoverfly genera:
Leucozona glaucia is a woodland species of hoverfly, typically found in clearings, rides, and tracksides, but also in tall vegetation along roadside hedgerows, scrub, etc. The adults are usually seen visiting flowers, especially white umbels such as Heracleum and Angelica. The larvae prey on ground layer aphids. It can be seen from May to October peaking in July and August.
In my central town small garden. I think I have identified it correctly, even though this is not a typical habitat, more common on wood edges and hawthorn
The hoverflies are very lazy today, letting me get up close without even moving away with any determination
Hoverfly on camelia leaf. Have a suspicion this is the exact same hoverfly I've shot on previous days. Focus stacked using zerene
Hoverflies, sometimes called flower flies, or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggots) eat a wide range of foods. In some species, the larvae are saprotrophs, eating decaying plant and animal matter in the soil or in ponds and streams. In other species, the larvae are insectivores and prey on aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects.
Aphids alone cause tens of millions of dollars of damage to crops worldwide every year; because of this, aphid-eating hoverflies are being recognized as important natural enemies of pests, and potential agents for use in biological control. Some adult syrphid flies are important pollinators.
About 6,000 species in 200 genera have been described. Hoverflies are common throughout the world and can be found on all continents except Antarctica. Hoverflies are harmless to most other animals, despite their mimicry of more dangerous wasps and bees, which wards off predators.