I always think it is terribly sad that people confuse the harmless and helpful hoverfly with stingy wasps and even bees. Hoverflies are small and, well, they hover! They have no sting and they do not bite. One hovered onto my Kindle device today while I was reading and it sat in the middle of the screen for quite a little while before it decided to hover elsewhere. Please don't kill them. They are the good guys, invaluable in the garden for pollinating plants and their larvae eat aphids.
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| Hoverfly - they have stumpy antennae and fat, sticky tongues |
Gardeners have
a lot less bother with a hoverfly around.
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| Hoverflies have no sting and they do not bite. |
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| Hoverfly amid carnivorous plants |
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| Hoverfly on the edge of a carnivorous plant |
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| Hoverfly with its sticky tongue getting moisture from a carnivorous plant |
I know wasps eat aphids too but wasps will sting you just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
YouTube link of hoverfly larvae eating aphids
Below image, ladybird larvae eating aphids.
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| Ladybird larvae (black with yello spots) eat greenflies too |
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| Green aphid - the bad guy |
http://gardeners-word.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/hoverfly.html
External links below:-
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artmay07/cd-hoverflies.html
http://www.gardensafari.net/english/hoverflies.htm
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/wildlifegarden/atoz/h/hoverfly.aspx
