Hoverflies – Bee mimics provide pollination and biocontrol services
go.ncsu.edu/readext?360720
en Español / em Português
El inglés es el idioma de control de esta página. En la medida en que haya algún conflicto entre la traducción al inglés y la traducción, el inglés prevalece.
Al hacer clic en el enlace de traducción se activa un servicio de traducción gratuito para convertir la página al español. Al igual que con cualquier traducción por Internet, la conversión no es sensible al contexto y puede que no traduzca el texto en su significado original. NC State Extension no garantiza la exactitud del texto traducido. Por favor, tenga en cuenta que algunas aplicaciones y/o servicios pueden no funcionar como se espera cuando se traducen.
Português
Inglês é o idioma de controle desta página. Na medida que haja algum conflito entre o texto original em Inglês e a tradução, o Inglês prevalece.
Ao clicar no link de tradução, um serviço gratuito de tradução será ativado para converter a página para o Português. Como em qualquer tradução pela internet, a conversão não é sensivel ao contexto e pode não ocorrer a tradução para o significado orginal. O serviço de Extensão da Carolina do Norte (NC State Extension) não garante a exatidão do texto traduzido. Por favor, observe que algumas funções ou serviços podem não funcionar como esperado após a tradução.
English
English is the controlling language of this page. To the extent there is any conflict between the English text and the translation, English controls.
Clicking on the translation link activates a free translation service to convert the page to Spanish. As with any Internet translation, the conversion is not context-sensitive and may not translate the text to its original meaning. NC State Extension does not guarantee the accuracy of the translated text. Please note that some applications and/or services may not function as expected when translated.
Collapse ▲Originally posted on ecoIPM.org…
You can often see hoverflies zipping in and out of flowers in your garden. They approach a flowering shrub or group of flowering perennials and hover around seemingly deciding which flower to feed from. A nice part about hoverflies is that they frequently land on flowers to rest providing great photo opportunities for even the clumsiest and least patient phone-wielding gardener or child. Hoverflies are often mistaken for bees. This is called Batesian Mimicry after Henry Walter Bates who studied butterflies (among other things) in the Amazon and first described the phenomenon of harmless species mimicking unrelated harmful species as a form of protection from predators. In this case, many hoverflies, which don’t sting, mimic bee species that do making predators think twice before grabbing them.
The superficial similarity continues since hoverflies also pollinate flowers, though not always as efficiently as bees. Hoverflies visit flowers to feed on nectar or nectar and pollen depending on the species. This gives them the energy and nutrients they need to reproduce.
Reproduction is where hoverflies and bees diverge. (Evolutionarily bees and flies diverged a long time ago during). Most hoverflies have free-living predatory larvae. Hoverfly adults lay eggs on plants near aphid colonies. The maggots move within the aphid colony grabbing aphids with their mouths and eating them. These are very easy to find if you want to see them in (slow) action. Look at milkweed, tulip poplar, any plant with a bunch of aphids. Look closely among the aphids and you will often see green or yellow hoverfly maggots.
Hoverflies can be valuable for biological control of aphids in crops like lettuce and grains on which aphids are common pests. Hoverflies can fly far into crop fields to home in on aphid colonies and lay eggs. A lot of research has investigated ways to attract and conserve hoverflies and other aphid predators like lady beetles in crop fields by planting flowers.
Even urban yards can have great hoverfly diversity. As you might expect the best way to attract hoverflies is by planting flowers. But remember flowers are not all they need; they also need aphids for the maggots to develop. Maintaining a “pest free” yard reduces the abundance and diversity of all the predators and parasitoids that rely on those herbivores as food. So when you see a few aphids don’t go nuts. Think of them as food for lady beetles (which also won’t lay eggs without aphids present), hoverflies, minute pirate bugs, bigeyed bugs, lacewings, parasitoid wasps, aphid midges, and hundreds of other insects. Expecting to conserve charismatic insects like hoverflies and lady beetles while eliminating aphids and other herbivores is like trying to conserve lions without gazelles, water buffalo, and zebras.