The Great Hover Fly Con

They're everywhere in your garden, perfectly disguised as bees. But these master con artists are actually flies - and they might be your garden's best-kept secret! Discover the pollinators hiding in plain sight and why their 'fake bee' act is actually saving your plants. www.secretpollinators.com KEY SOURCES Hoverfly pollination Doyle, T., Hawkes, W. L. S., Massy, R., Powney, G. D., Menz, M. H. M., & Wotton, K. R. (2020). Pollination by hoverflies in the Anthropocene. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 287(1927). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0508 Rader, R., Cunningham, S. A., Howlett, B. G., & Inouye, D. W. (2020). Non-Bee Insects as Visitors and Pollinators of Crops: Biology, Ecology, and Management. Annual Review of Entomology, 65, 391–407. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-011019-025055 Rader, R., Bartomeus, I., Garibaldi, L. A., et al. (2016). Non-bee insects are important contributors to global crop pollination. PNAS, 113(1), 146–151. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1517092112 Dual role: pollination and pest control Wotton, K. R., Gao, B., Menz, M. H. M., et al. (2019). Mass seasonal migrations of hoverflies provide extensive pollination and crop protection services. Current Biology, 29(13), 2167–2173. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.05.036 Larval aphid predation Rojo, S., Gilbert, F., Marcos-García, M. A., Nieto, J. M., & Mier, M. P. (2003). A World Review of Predatory Hoverflies and Their Prey. CIBIO Ediciones, Alicante. Wnuk, A., & Fuchs, R. (1977). Prey consumption in Scaeva pyrastri — up to 550 aphids per larva. Bankowska, R., et al. (1978). Prey consumption in Platycheirus clypeatus — approximately 135 aphids per larva. Tenhumberg, B., & Poehling, H.-M. (1995). Syrphids as natural enemies of cereal aphids in Germany: aspects of their biology and efficacy in different years and regions. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 52(1), 39–43. Encyclop'Aphid, INRAE. Diptera: Syrphidae. eng-encyclopedie-pucerons.hub.inrae.fr — roughly 250 aphidophagous species within Syrphinae and Melisiinae; larval guilds include phytophagous, microphagous, and zoophagous types. Mimicry Golding, Y. C., & Edmunds, M. (2000). Behavioural mimicry of honeybees by hoverflies. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 267(1446), 903–909. Hovering flight Ellington, C. P. (1984). The aerodynamics of hovering insect flight. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 305(1122). Dudley, R. (2000). The Biomechanics of Insect Flight. Princeton University Press. Identification Skevington, J. H., Locke, M. M., Young, A. D., Moran, K., Crins, W. J., & Marshall, S. A. (2019). Field Guide to the Flower Flies of Northeastern North America. Princeton University Press. #SecretPollinators #HoverFlies #Pollinators #GardenPodcast #NaturePodcast #BiologicalPestControl #AphidControl #BeneficialInsects #OrganicGardening