Posts Tagged: Syrphidae

Flies Are Pollinators, Too!

You may have noticed this little floral visitor in your garden. It might appear to be a bee, a common mistake to the untrained eye or those who think that all floral visitors are bees. But it's a fly, and flies are pollinators, too! This fly, from the genus Eristalis, family Syrphidae...

Close-up of a fly, genus Eristalis, on a flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of a fly, genus Eristalis, on a flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Flies are pollinators, too! This little Eristalis is nectaring a zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Flies are pollinators, too! This little Eristalis is nectaring a zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Side view of an Eristalis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Side view of an Eristalis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Syrphids Back Again

Have you seen the little syrphid flies, aka flower flies and hover flies, hovering around the early spring blossoms? We saw half a dozen of them Monday, Feb. 15 nectaring a white ceanothus at the Marshall Post Office in Marin County. The ceanothus is a shrub from the buckhorn family,...

Honing In

A SYRPHID FLY (problably from the Genus Toxomerus) heads toward a white ceanothus blossom near Tomales Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Glitter

WINGS GLITTERING in the sun, a syrphid fly lands on a white ceanothus blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Hovering

The warmth of the sun and the lure of nectar beckoned the hover flies or flower flies to our bee friendly garden.We saw this one nectaring the rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora) last weekend. Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, identified it...

Hover fly on rock purslane

HOVER FLY, aka flower fly, nectars the rock purslane. The insect is from the family Syrphidae, and probably genus Platycheirus, according to native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Nectar Lover

THIS hover fly, aka flower fly, reaches for more nectar from the rock purslane. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ready for Take-Off

READY FOR TAKE-OFF, the hover fly, crowned with pollen, heads for the tip of the blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Squatters' Rights

Squatters' rights. A dandelion poking through the rocks near Nick's Cove on Tomales Bay, in Marshall, Sonoma County, seemed an unlikely host for squatters' rights. It first drew a tiny bee, barely a quarter-inch long. It was a female sweat bee, family Halictidae, genus Lasioglossum, subgenus...

Fly-In

HOVER FLY, from the family Syrphidae swoops down on a dandelion claimed by a sweat bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Two's Company

TWO'S COMPANY--A tiny sweat bee and a hover fly share the same dandelion. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

On the Rim

POLLEN-PACKING sweat bee (top) prepares to leave the dandelion to the much larger hover fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Alone

ALONE, the hover fly nectars the dandelion flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

If It Looks Like a Duck....

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck, it's probably a duck. If it looks like a bee, buzzes like a bee, and visits flowers like a bee, it might not be a bee. It could be a fly, or more specifically, a syrphid or flower fly. Syrphids, also known as hover...

Flying in

FLYING IN--A syrphid or flower fly heads for a newly opened cactus blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Knobbed antennae

SYRPHID FLY has a specialized bristle or arista on the end of each antenna. It looks like a knob. In comparison, the honey bee has long antennae bent at a right angle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Nectaring

NECTARING--A syrphid fly nectars on a cactus blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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