Hoverfly Images
Hoverflies often look like bees or wasps but are from the Syrphidae family. They are named hoverfly because they often hover near plants that have nectar and pollen. Hoverfly larvae consume a wide variety of food including decaying plant matter, plant sucking insects and decaying animal matter and they are considered beneficial.
Adult hoverflies feed mainly on nectar and pollen, and they are one of many pollinators that feed on these resources. They are second only to bees in terms of their effectiveness as pollinators, and they may be more efficient than bees because they can carry pollen much further and visit a greater diversity of flowers.
Hoverflies are attracted to human sweat because of the water and salt on our skin, and they may land on us to drink our sweat. They cannot sting or bite but lick and probe with their tongue.
Broad-headed Marsh Fly on a Common Sunflower
Title: Broad-headed Marsh Fly on a Common Sunflower
Location: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah
Date: 9/4/2019
Native
Common Sunflower with a Broad-headed Marsh Fly
Title: Common Sunflower with a Broad-headed Marsh Fly
Location: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah
Date: 8/1/2017
Native
Bird Hoverfly on Lewis’s Flax
Title: Bird Hoverfly on Lewis’s Flax
Location: Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah
Date: 6/9/2017
Native
Towering Jacob’s-ladder and American Hoverfly
Title: Towering Jacob’s-ladder and American Hoverfly
Location: Big Cottonwood Canyon, Brighton, Salt Lake County, UT
Date: 7/29/2008
Native