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News

  • Forestry Friday: The Rare Milkweed Garden at the Gardner Forest

    Sophie Oehler
    September 15, 2023

    In this Forestry Friday, the forestry team takes a trip to the Gardener Forest in Hollis to check in on a population of a rare species of milkweed. (Photo: Sophie Oehler)

  • "MONADNOCK: The Mountain that Stands Alone"

    Dave Anderson
    August 30, 2023

    Celebrate Monadnock and its long legacy of natural and cultural history.

  • Something Wild: Why the treeline of Mt. Washington is not a line

    Dave Anderson, Chris Martin, Jessica Hunt
    August 24, 2023

    In this second episode of our series, Dave Anderson of the Forest Society and Chris Martin of NH Audubon are exploring the different forest zones on the flanks of the mountain, below the treeline.

Hover Flies

Dave Anderson
September 4, 2014
Wildlife
Mount Monadnock
Hover fly mimicry of stinging insect protects this species. Photo Marko Kivelia via flickr Creative Commons

 

While hiking on Mount Monadnock this summer, I witnessed an odd phenomenon: nearly-motionless hovering insects with orange-yellow stripes over a dark body suggesting wasps or bees. The tight aerial formation of insects hovered at eye level in a shaft of sunlight over the trail.

The “Hover Flies” - sometimes called “Flower Flies” - belong to a LARGE group in the Order “Diptera” (the true flies). Those in the Family “Syrphidae” have only one pair of wings. All wasps and bees have two pairs of wings.

Hover flies sport spots, bands or stripes of yellow or light brown against a dark background. Many are covered in dense body hair suggesting a bumble bee. They are capable of fast flight and can hover perfectly motionless.

In summer, hover flies are found nectaring on woodland or meadow wildflowers or in gardens alongside butterflies, bumble bees and other flower-dependent insects. Males emerge and mature earlier in summer than females. Hover fly larvae are beneficial to garden crops by eating pests including aphids.

While hover flies do NOT sting and are completely harmless, their hovering and dark and light stripes mimicry protects them from falling prey to birds and other insectivores which avoid eating bees and wasps. Birds generally will not attack bees as they innately know about stinging.

Biologists use the term “Batesian mimicry” to describe when a palatable, vulnerable species (the Hoverfly) closely resembles either an unpalatable or a well-protected species (a bee or wasp). This “sheep in wolf’s clothing” strategy provides a twist on camouflage: the prey species uses camouflage not to hide, but to frighten potential predators.

 

 

 

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Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests54 Portsmouth St.Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603.224.9945Fax: 603.228.0423info@forestsociety.org
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