#syrphidae

[onenicebugperday]

Wasp-mimic flower fly, Monoceromyia ndidiae, Syrphidae (hover flies)

Photographed in the Dominican Republic by franklinhowley

[michaelnordeman]

Wasp plumehorn/Volucella inanis/bålgetingblomfluga. Värmland, Sweden (15 July 2023).

[reanimateobjects]

[herpsandbirds]

Could I request some pollinator flies? I think they’re pretty underrated!

Btw, everyone, when you see "flowerfly", the flowerflies are a group pf hover flies that feed at flowers, and the term can be used interchangeably with hoverfly for some species.

HOVERFLIES! (family Syrphidae)

Band-eyed Dronefly (Eristalinus taeniops), Portugal

photograph by Alves Gaspar 

Marmalade Hoverfly or Marmalade Flowerfly (Episyrphus balteatus), family Syrphidae, Portugal

photograph by Alves Gaspar 

Marmalade Hoverfly, feeding on Valerian, Switzerland

photograph by Charles J. Sharp 

Pied Hoverfly or Pied Flowerfly (Scaeva pyrastri), feeding on Chicory, Denmark

photograph by Pudding4brains 

Tropical Plushback (Palpada vinetorum), feeding on smartweed, Oklahoma, USA

photograph by xpda

Eastern Calligrapher (Toxomerus geminatus), GA, USA

photograph by Christina Butler

[jupiterswasphouse]

[VIDEO TAKEN: APRIL 15TH, 2026 | Video ID: A video of a black and yellow, bumble bee mimicking hover fly, cleaning itself off while perched on a dirty barrel before promptly flying away /End ID.]

Here you can see what I mean about this species' abdomen motion alerting me to the fact it was a fly, as well as the way it cleans itself!

[rebeccathenaturalist]

I'm supposed to be out here surveying native plants today, but the arthropod world has been throwing a lot of dramatic scenes my way.

[razehider]

as you might guess from the name, Milesia crabroniformis is a mimic of european hornets (Vespa crabro) and does a surprisingly good job of it, from the size to the buzzing, often giving me false hopes that i've found an actual hornet since they're not common here. ironically, what tends to give them away is their overly aggressive behavior - only a hoverfly would divebomb your face repeatedly the way they do

(August 21st, 2025)

[musiclovingmoth]

more flybuary catchup...

eupeodes americanus (syrphidae), the american hoverfly, was recently discovered to undertake super long migrations across north america!

bittacomorpha clavipes (ptychopteridae), the eastern phantom cranefly, lives near streams where the larvae are little worms with long breathing tubes under water. the adults fly super distinctly with their legs extended and they look like flying asterisks.

archytas apicifer (tachinidae), the hornworm tachinid, is an important pollinating fly. despite its name, the larvae seem to parasitize several pest caterpillars but ironically i couldn't find any hornworms among the list.