View allAll Photos Tagged hoverfly
Flew into the house, caught by the dog, spat out of dogs mouth onto the carpet, licked and pawed by the dog, saved by myself and placed outside! It cleaned itself up and flew off hopefully not too traumatised by its ordeal!
An early morning shot of a Hoverfly on a dew covered grass stem.
Setting this one up was a delicate matter as I was trying to avoid any disturbance that would cause the dew drops to fall off, not to mention the hoverfly flying away. All was going well until I attempted to make a small adjustment with the tripod and knocked the grass, fortunately I had a few shots in the bag.
Best viewed very large.
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You can see more of my images on my other flickr account Heath's moth page
I'm not sure about the ID so let me know if I've got this wrong.
I'm behind again after another busy week :( will try to catch up over the next day or two.
In the meantime HFDF and have a great weekend! :)
Thanks to Roger for confirming the ID.
A hoverfly on a field scabious at Swelshill Bank near Stroud, this was taken when I met up with flickr member Rod Holbrook at the beginning of the month
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
Hoverflies, sometimes called flower flies, bee mimics 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 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.
Kamera Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Belichtung 0,006 sec (1/160)
Blende f/13.0
Brennweite 180 mm
ISO-Empfindlichkeit 500
Flies in the family Syrphidae are commonly known as hoverflies, flower flies, or syrphid flies.
As their common names suggest, 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.
About 6,000 species in 200 genera have been described. Hoverflies are common throughout the world and can be found on every continent except Antarctica. Hoverflies are harmless to most other animals despite their mimicry of the black and yellow stripes of wasps, which serves to ward off predators.
best viewed LARGE:
Photographing a hoverfly in flight was one of my goals in the garden this summer. It's a work still in progress.
I nearly got this one.
Nice On Black
A Hoverfly on an agapanthus flower in our Brisbane garden.
To see the photos in the first comment box in high resolution, just click on them.
Hoverfly
Insect
Although these brightly-coloured insects look like bees or wasps, they are in fact true flies and do not sting. Hoverflies are excellent examples of Batesian mimicry (named after H W Bates who first described it in 1862). They generally mimic bees and wasps – insects that sting and also taste unpleasant, so are avoided by predators. Drone-flies mimic honey bees, Volucella bombylans (pictured) has several different forms mimicking bumblebees, while others species are very convincing wasp mimics.
There are about 250 different hoverfly species in Britain. You can generally see plenty of adults on flowers throughout spring, summer and autumn. Hoverfly larvae are varied too – some even resemble small slugs. They all have different feeding habits. For example they may eat plants, feed on rotting wood and fungi, attack bulbs or parasitise other insects.
More well known and welcome in the garden are those that eat aphids and other pests eg Syrphus spp. Rat-tailed maggots, larvae of the dronefly Eristalis tenax, are found in polluted pools and extend their tail breathing tubes to the surface to breathe.
What does it eat?
Adults eat drink nectar and eat pollen and honeydew. Some species feed on dead insects. The larvae of different species eat different things. Some eat aphids.
When will I see it?
Between March and November, depending on the species.
Where will I see it?
Hovering near and resting on flowers. Many seem prone to entering conservatories and greenhouses.
Link -
www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guid...