Syrphidae

This week brings us a very common kind of insect that you will surely see if you look for it. This image is of a fly in the family Syphidae, recently collected from the base of an Amaryllis plant by a local enthusiast. Sometimes called flower flies, they often mimic bees and wasps and can usually be found hovering around flowers, some even mimic the buzzing sound made by bees in flight! The short antennae with the bristle at their tips and the single pair of wings indicate that this is a fly and not a bumblebee (which has much longer antennae and two pairs of flight wings). The larvae of these flies have a wide variety of habits; many are predaceous on aphids and thus beneficial to gardeners.